


The Box Ghost’s Last Day on Earth

by QueenAlicorn



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Afterlife, Background - Freeform, Death, F/M, Life - Freeform, box - Freeform, box Ghost - Freeform, ghost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 25,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21679651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenAlicorn/pseuds/QueenAlicorn
Summary: What is a ghost? Most of them are the souls of people who have died and have unfinished business. Though in Danny Phantom's universe they don't often talk about how the ghosts died or what their unfinished business is. We often come up with our own answers and theories about how and why they became ghosts. I am starting with The Box Ghost so I hope you enjoy this hour-by-hour story.
Relationships: Box Ghost/OC
Kudos: 2





	1. Wake-up call

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 1,

Paul's alarm rang at exactly 6:00am and he groaned loudly. He rolled over to his side to help wake him up and stared at the blaring clock.

"Paul, I love you, but if you don't turn off that alarm clock, I will divorce you." His loving wife said and Paul turned off the alarm and sat up.

"You would never divorce me, honey." Paul whispered as he smiled at her. Franny rolled towards him and opened one eye before rolling back to her original position.

"And tell me, baby, why wouldn't I divorce you?" She asked and chuckled.

"Because you loooove me." Paul said with a drawl as pulled his wife close and started to kiss her neck.

"Ok, ok! Stop! Knock it off!" She squealed gleefully, and Paul pulled away.

"Careful Francine, you may wake our son." Paul warned and Francine smiled.

"If Thomas wakes up, the blame will fall on the father, not the mother." She said in a singsong voice and Paul chuckled again.

"Careful Franny, you may be taking your job a little too seriously." Paul warned and Franny bumped him with her butt.

"Ugh, how dare you. That's it, I am sooo going to divorce you today." She said and Paul kissed her shoulder.

"No, you won't." He said.

"Uh, yes I will, I have divorce papers in my briefcase." She said and Paul rolled his eyes.

"Being a lawyer who mostly deals with divorce cases and custody battles, I'm not too surprised that you have divorce papers." Paul said and Franny gave a small giggle.

"Curse you, I hoped that it would be too early for you to remember that." She said and Paul finally let go of her and got out of bed. Franny stayed still for only a minute before rolling over to watch him dress.

"Remind me again why your getting up so early?" Franny asked and Paul turned towards her.

"Because the warehouse hasn't been doing too well and we had to let some people go. Unfortunately being in the middle of flu season we had too many people call in sick and we need help on the ground floor." Paul explained as he pulled a set of overalls on and Francine laughed.

"You're wearing those old things?" She questioned and Paul rose an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah? What's wrong with them? Last time I wore a pair of overalls you said that I looked sexy." He wondered and Francine sat up and hugged her knees loosely.

"Yeah, but that was before we were married. We have changed a bit in the last couple of years." She stated and Paul smiled.

"Ok, now I'm going to divorce you." He said playfully and Francine rolled her eyes.

"You won't because you looove me." She said before sticking her tongue out at him.

"Of course I would, the papers are in your briefcase, right? Well you always keep your briefcase by the door, so I'll just go get them." Paul said before he left the room and walked down the stairs. Of course this caused Francine to jump out of bed and run down the stairs.

"Don't you dare touch my briefcase!" She hollered and Paul picked it up and hugged it close to his body.

"I'm touching it! I'm touching it!" He said as he laughed half of his childish comment and Francine tackled him lightly and reached for the briefcase, but Paul hung it out of her grasp.

"You didn't think that it would be that easy would you?" Paul ask as he quickly made his way to the kitchen. His wife followed and he placed the briefcase on it's side on the island.

"Can't we settle out differences like rational and mature adults?" He asked sweetly and Franny eyed hi with a knowing smile.

"Can you even be mature Mr. Man?" She asked and Paul chuckled.

"Not really." He said and he pushed the briefcase away, but seeing that he pushed too hard he ran to the other side of the island, dove down and caught it before it hit the ground.

"Wow, now that was smooth. Are you ok?" She asked and he smiled up at her.

"Never better." He said and got up on one knee.

"Will you, Francine, please continue being Mrs. Baxter?" Paul asked as he held up her briefcase.

"Yes, of course. I love you, Mr. Baxter." She giggled as she took the briefcase and helped her husband to his feet and into a loving kiss.


	2. 7:00 am

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it’s characters.  
Chapter 2, "Oh, sonny, please be careful with that." The elderly Mrs. Manson said to Paul as he started to pack up her snow globe collection. Paul gave her a gentle smile, picked up a small snow globe with a bunch of tiny red hearts inside it, and handed it to her.

"Madam, could you be so kind, as to indulge me, could you tell me the story behind this snow globe?" Paul requested and the woman sighed as memories started to fill her mind.

"Oh, Alfred I miss you. Well, not too long ago my died and my granddaughter, Sam, wanted me to be happy on my first Valentines Day alone and she knew that I liked snow globes, so she demanded to go to the mall and pick out the perfect snow globe, and said that it was perfect, but her parents wanted her to look around some more to make sure that it was the perfect one. Which is total malarkey because this snow globe only cost $5 and they thought that she should get something 'that didn't look like a hand-me-down trinket', whatever that means.

"And little Sam, bless her heart, held on to that snow globe for all it's worth, and after a good hour of searching, Sam still wanted the little snow globe, but her parents thought that she was playing hardball. So they basically said 'fine' and told her that she could buy three snow globes that were little, like this, or two standard size snow globes, or one snow globe that I like to call 'overkill size', but it's a little bit bigger then a fortune teller's crystal ball. After they told little Sam this, they left her in the care of her nanny and went back to work.

"Sam was determined to get me this snow globe so she looked around for two little ones to keep the deal she had made with her parents. Eventually she found a 'snow' globe of a spooky castle and the snow was actually tiny bats and she kept this, and the other was this 'snow' globe that had an astronaut on the moon's surface and the snow was actually stars, and she gave this to a boy she likes to play with on the playground who wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.

"She took her snow globes home and she made me a tiny box out of nail polish and index cards and wrapped it in Christmas paper and placed one of her hair bows on top and presented it to me on Valentines day. Her parents actually apologized to me before they left and gave me their 'real' present, which was a new set of china plates to replace the old ones that I had. They just couldn't believe that this little snow globe could be the best present I've received in years. I suppose that Sam and I are kindred spirits who believe that a dollar sign is not the most important thing in the world. This is why I will support her and help her deal with her parents, when they go crazy." Mrs. Manson said and Paul smiled.

"Now that is an excellent story, ma'am. Seems like a story I could tell my little boy tonight. It can be a nice little way to teach him good values." He said as he taped the box in front of him.

"Oh, you have a son? How old is he?" She asked and Paul smiled.

"Thomas is four, but will be five next month." Paul said and Mrs. Manson smiled.

"Oh, goody. My Sammy just turned four, the sweet thing. Does your son go to Casper Pre-School Prep?" She asked and Paul struggled to keep his smile.

"Um, no, he just goes to Casper Pre-School." He remarked and Mrs. Manson nodded.

"Well, that's good. I always felt like Sammy should be in a normal school. She tells me that she hates the khaki uniforms they make her wear, but her parents love it. Though there was a rumor that the Prep Schools are all owned by the same guy and he wants to move to a new area. So, I keep telling Sammy to try to grin and wait, while I continue to do my best to talk her parents out of Sammy going to that school." Mrs. Manson said but something behind Paul caught her eye and she rushed out of the room.

"Please! That is my husband's desk!" She shouted, but Paul didn't even bother to turn around.

Thomas could go to that school if it wasn't so expensive. He is so good with mechanics and he is so athletic and he would fit in perfectly there. If only Baxter Boxes was doing better. Perhaps I will call my brother after we get some more work done here.


	3. 8:00 am

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 3,

"Hello, Baxter Boxes. This is Paul Baxter, how may I help you?" Paul robotically said when he answered his phone.

"Hello, Mr. Baxter, this is Mrs. Baxter, can you bring some moving men to my house this Friday to box up stuff in his 'man-cave'-like garage. I don't know what you should do with the stuff after it's packed, but I want it out of my house. You could throw it off a cliff for all I care." Francine said and Paul walked from the back yard to get a little more privacy.

"Well, Mrs. Baxter, I do not believe that we are able to throw items off a cliff. It wouldn't be ecologically safe and the things in the boxes would probably be things that your husband wants to keep." Paul said and he heard Francine laugh.

"There is a good chance that he will want to keep the stuff in the garage, but most of it is sports equipment that he doesn't touch anymore." Francine said and Paul rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but that's all the more reason to keep this stuff around." Paul said.

"And tell me, good sir, why would a family keep things that nobody uses?" Francine challenged and Paul grinned.

"That's the key word ma'am, 'family'. I hear rumors that you and Mr. Baxter have a tiny child at home." Paul said and he could hear her eyes rolling.

"We have a son, and he's not tiny, he's small because he is young. And he's not at home, he is at pre-school." Francine said and Paul chuckled.

"I know all that, but Thomas is athletic and he will probably start to get more serious about sports in the next few years and he will be using that equipment." Paul explained.

"Yeah, well you have too much sports equipment. I doubt that Thomas will be on the swim team, and lacrosse, and football, and basketball, and baseball, and whatever other sport you have things for." Francine said and Paul shrugged.

"Maybe not all at once, but maybe he'll want to join swimming when he's nine and then golf when he's ten and then football when he's eleven." Paul said and he noticed that he was walking dangerously close to Mrs. Manson's swimming pool so he turned and walked towards the fence.

"First of all, does golf even count as a sport? Second, do you really think that he will be changing to a new sport every year? And three, what if he doesn't want to play a sport? What if he just wants to be an innocent little choirboy or band geek?" Francine asked and Paul laughed some more.

"One, yes golf is a sport. Two, kids have changed sports every year or so and it would be nice if we prepared for that. And three, of course he doesn't have to play sports. I used that stuff in high school and they helped high school be the best years of my life, but if Tommy doesn't play any sports by the time he graduates then I will gladly sell off all of my sports equipment." Paul said and he heard his wife scoff.

"Well, if your sports equipment is so important to you, then why don't you divorce me and go marry them?" Francine retorted and Paul chuckled.

"Hey now, I said that they helped to make high school the best years of my life, but the real cherry was that beautiful little cheerleader who was so sexy smart that she became valedictorian and married me." Paul said.

"Yeah, one stupid mistake and it rules your life forever." Francine joked and Paul scoffed a little too loudly.

"Uh, not forever, baby, only until death do we part or one of us gets divorced." Paul said despite his wife's laughter.

"Oh, my good man, is that a challenge?" Franny asked and Paul grinned.

"You bet, sweetie. Let's see who is the first to sign out or go tits up." Paul said.

"Ok, but what are the stakes?" Francine asked and Paul took a minute to think about this.

"Well, if you divorce me then I get the house. If I divorce you then you get the house. If you die first then I will turn your study into a shrine. If I die first then you will play sports with Tommy; but if we both are still around and we both want to stay with each other then I suggest that tonight we ask the Fenton's to watch Tommy and we go to that wonderful little bistro on 9th street." Paul said and he could hear the smile grow on her face.

"Is the man from Baxter Boxes really asking out a married woman?" Franny asked and Paul laughed.

"I believe that as long as he is the one that's married to the person he is asking out then there is no rule against it." Paul said and Francine laughed.

"Very well, Mr. Man, dinner at the bistro at... how about 8 tonight?" Franny suggested and Paul nodded.

"Sounds great, honey, but we still have work to be done here so I will call you back later, ok?" Paul said.

"OH, wait! I forgot why I was calling. The Fenton's are actually bringing their son Danny to our house to play with Tommy at 3 and I can't escape, so can you watch them?" Franny asked and Paul grinned.

"Sure, no problem, we will definitely be done by then." Paul said and they gave a quick goodbye before hanging up and going back to work.


	4. 9:00 am

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 4,

"Now remember both trucks are not going to the same location. You must follow your designated route, not each other." Paul instructed as Mrs. Manson signed the clipboard.

"Thank you boys - Oh, and girl, for all your help." She said and Paul smiled and waved to the kind woman before getting in his car and during to the warehouse. He hit the usual 9:00 traffic jam and at first he was annoyed but there was nothing he could do. Though Paul decided to make the most out of his situation because he knew himself too well. He knew that if he got mad now, then his whole mood would be tainted for the rest of the day and his foul mood would put Franny in a bad mood and they would end up in a fight which would make Thomas cry.

With this in mind, he popped in the CD that Thomas and Franny made for him. Franny was clever enough to have 'We Will Rock You' as the first song, with The Star-Spangle Banner intro that he loved. Then Tommy had placed 'You've Got a Friend in Me' as the second song and the third was 'Take on Me', the fourth was 'Good Morning, Baltimore', the fifth was 'We Didn't Start the Fire.' the sixth was 'Where are you Christmas?'. The whole CD is half, heart pumping songs that his wife chose, and the other half are songs Thomas has seen in movies but will still make him smile.

By the time he entered the warehouse he was in a great mood and was ready for whatever the day could throw at him.

"Good morning, Mr. Baxter, the new box printer got delivered today and should be up and running before the weeks out." Eric, their trusty manager informed him.

"Thanks Eric, but I thought that we canceled that order when we started to downsize." Paul questioned and concern grew on Eric's face.

"If I am correct the order was cancelled but then got reordered, but I can check the accounts for payment history or call the company that we ordered it from." Eric suggested and Paul waved him off.

"Let me talk to my brother first, because if it got reordered then he did it after I cancelled it. I'll get back to you after I get some paperwork done." Paul said and he went up to his office.

"Paul, Paul, Paul, stop." Gloria said as he got to his door.

"You are faster then you look, sir. I've been chasing you since you got off the elevator." She puffed and Paul gave her a gentle smile.

"I'm sorry, Gloria. I must have been in my own world, because I didn't realize that you were behind me." Paul apologized and Gloria fixed her glasses.

"Yeah, well, story of my life. Anyways I was told to remind you that you had a ten o'clock meeting with the local toy company to insure that their toys will be safe during transportation to other cities." She said and Paul's eye's widened.

"No, that's today? That's in less then a hour and I need to shower and eat and get dressed in a suit." Paul said in a quiet panicked state.

"I had some tacos delivered and they are on your desk and when your done, your brother said that you can go to his office and use his bathroom, because it has a small shower and I put a freshly cleaned suit on the back of the bathroom door." Gloria said and Paul rushed towards the tacos.

"God, they are still hot. You, my dear, are an absolute perfect angel." Paul praised his brilliant assistant and se laughed softly.

"It's not my first day on the job, sir, but I must urge you to eat quickly. Lateness is not an option." She said before running off to do some other task.


	5. 10:00 am

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 5,

"And as you can see by our charts, we have all the necessary materials needed to fill the order. In fact we can start building and printing then today and we can deliver the product to your establishment by the end of the week at the latest." Paul said and a quiet murmur fell on the well dressed men.

"Well, Mr. Baxter, you do give a wonderful and convincing presentation. Of course, we are concerned about the... execution and follow through of what you say." The president of the company said and Paul's smile faltered a little as he knew exactly what the man was insinuating.

"Yes... Let me apologize again for my tardiness. But if you like my brother can give you his word of approval." Paul suggested and motioned to Adam, who stood up and walked beside Paul.

"I assure you, good gentleman, Paul would love this company even if it didn't belong to our father. Though I have always insured that our trucks have met their destination in a safe yet timely manner." Adam said and was surprised when his phone went off.

"I apologize, gentlemen, this call in unexpected and unfortunately unavoidable. Please excuse me." Adam said before walking out of the room.

"Baxter Boxes, this is Adam Baxter, how may I help you?" They faintly heard and Paul got a little nervous. He normally dealt with the employee's and gave presentations, but Adam was the one that investors and businesses loved; because he was the technical and serious out, whereas Paul was the one they could relate to with his lovable character and family man attitude.

"So, these cute little bears look like they sell well." Paul said and a man turned to the small stack of toys.

"They do, but they are not our number one product." He said and Paul smiled.

"Well, I bet my son would like one." Paul remarked and the man smiled.

"Would he now? How old is he?" He asked.

"He'll be 5 soon." Paul said.

"Oh, really? My son Kwan is about that age." He said.

"No kidding? Did he have one of these bears?" Paul asked and the man nodded.

"Yes, he did. But he gave it to his little sister when he felt like we should treat him like a grown-up." He said with a smile.

"Well, growing up is natural for young kids, the fear comes later." Paul said and the man nodded.

"Exactly, they want to grow up when you don't want them to and grow up when they don't want to." The man said and Paul chuckled.

"Yeah, life's pretty funny that way. So what did you tell your son about growing up?" Paul asked.

"Well, my wife had him start doing the dishes on a regular basis and as for me, I started playing catch with him after work." He said and Paul chuckled.

"Tommy loves to play catch, and basketball too." Paul said and the man smiled and picked up a purple bear.

"Kwan looked so cute hugging his little bear at night. Pretty soon his mind will be devoured by girl, sports, and who knows what else." The man said.

"Well, I bet he is a smart little kid. He probably wants to grow up and be like his dad, like most sons do. So you don't have to worry about his future success." Paul said and the man chuckled. Finally the president of the company removed himself from his associates and over to the man and Paul.

"Mr. Baxter, we unfortunately have a previous engagement, but you will hear from us by noon tomorrow." He said and Paul smiled.

"Ok. Then, I hope that you have a safe trip back home and that you have a great rest of the day." Paul said as he shook the president's hand and they left the room. The man that Paul was talking to, paused and handed Paul the purple bear.

"Purple is a pretty neutral color. Give it to your boy and if he grows up and decided to give it to his little sister, then their won't be any problems." He said with a smile and rushed off to catch up with his group. Paul looked down at the bear and rubbed his knuckles against it's soft cheek.

"Where did they go? Did you scare them off?" Someone said and Paul saw that Adam was in the doorway.

"Where did They go? Where did You do? What was the big deal with that phone call?" Paul questioned and Adam straightened his back.

"Why Paul, your upset, you need to relax. Perhaps you should go get a massage." Adam suggested and Paul's jaw dropped.

"First of all, a massage Adam? If I was ever going to break down and get a massage, I would have my wife do it, not some random hussy. Second, I wouldn't waste money on a massage when I think that money would be better if I spent it on my son. And Third of all, Of Course I Am Upset! YOU disappear right as we got them on the ropes, and I don't even know if I blew the deal or not because your the one who normally deals with companies and why would they want to listen to me when I came in 30 minutes late!" Paul said and Adam gave him an 'understanding' smile.

"I'm sorry that you were tardy, but I did ask Gloria to remind you about the meeting AND that the meeting was changed to 9:30." Adam stated and Paul glared at him.

"You told Gloria all that?" Paul said suspiciously.

"I did." Adam said simply and Paul narrowed his gaze.

"Then why do I get the sneaky feeling that you did this on purpose?" Paul asked and Adam chuckled.

"My dear, sweet brother. Are you so jealous of my life that you blame me for everything that's wrong with yours?" Adam asked and Paul didn't expect this response.

"I love my life. I love my wife and my kid and I love talking to new people everyday. I mean, sure I don't like the fact that we both get paid the same, despite the fact that you're a bachelor, who doesn't even own a pet, but we started these guidelines when we were both single. BUT that doesn't change the fact that you abandoned me today." Paul said and Adam shrugged his shoulders.

"It was an important call, Paul. Remember that order that we sent out yesterday afternoon? Well, they called because apparently they had a tire explode and since none of them thought to bring a spare, they have to wait until they get a new tire to fulfill the order and I had to call the recipients and tell them of this incident and that we apologize for the delay." Adam explained and Paul's feature soften.

"Are the guys gonna be ok?" He asked and Adam nodded.

"They'll be fine, they are drinking pop and eating Slim Jim's, except for Henry who is eating something healthier, because Henry always eats extremely healthy." Adam said and after a moment Paul sighed.

"I'm sorry I snapped, Adam. You know that I don't do well with the business side of this world." He said and Adam nodded.

"Well, it looks like you didn't do too terrible, unless you stole that bear." Adam said with a grin and Paul chuckled.

"One of the guys, I didn't catch his name, has a son around Tommy's age and he gave it to me." Paul said and Adam nodded.

"Ok, well, I guess it's time to go back to our offices, which are...?"

"Very, very far from each other."

"Why?"

"Because we can't stand each other." Paul and Adam recited before laughing and walking away in separate directions.

[If you enjoy the story so far, then I highly recommend that you check out my profile on FanFiction.Net. It has all of my stories that I am currently working on.]


	6. 11:00 am

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 6,

"Hey has anyone seen Gloria?" Paul asked and he was basically met by silence. Most of the people ignored him or didn't hear him, but one person shrugged because they were in the middle of a call. But then Paul saw a teenager sitting in a chair but was looking at him. Paul walked over to him and smiled.

"Now, I don't recognize you. Do you work here?" Paul asked and the boy hesitated.

"Well, if my interview goes well then yes I do." He said and Paul smiled.

"Optimistic and honest. Those are some pretty good qualities when searching for a job. What area are you trying to get into?" Paul asked and the teenager shifted.

"Well, advertisement, sir. But the job seems to be more market research with the section on showing ads to different people and collecting data on how well the ads worked." The teenager said and Paul could help but wonder how the business could afford market research if they had to lay people off.

"Well, I don't really handle the hiring anymore, thank god. What's your name kid?" Paul asked and the teenager seemed to relax at the simple question.

"My name is Jake." He said and Paul nodded.

"Alright, Jake, you want to go in that interview in a very confident manor. After all have you ever seen a commercial for something like... ice cream... and the people in the commercial were nervous or scared?" Paul said and Jake thought about this then shook his head.

"You see, people in commercials are confident, calm, and relaxed. Why? Because generally that is the best way to push product. When you are in a boardroom trying to pitch your product to companies, you should have the same attitude as someone in a commercial. Our company sells boxes, which is a pretty universal item in the business world. Each box is like a single piece of paper in the scholastic universe. Now what is going to stop people from picking a box company that is... say... cheaper? It could be the quality of our product or our fast and accurate shipping, but I still believe that the pitch is the heart and soul of the business, and do you know why?" Paul paused.

"Um, because the pitch is what convinces people to buy the product?" Jake guessed and Paul smiled.

"Exactly. Now, personally I am not at my best when I am at a meeting like this. Have you done any advertising before?" Paul asked.

"Mostly studied it, but nothing compared to what you guys must be doing." Jake admitted and Paul chuckled.

"Ok, next?" a man said absentmindedly but froze when he saw Paul.

"Oh... Hello, Mr. Baxter, how are you?" He asked and Jake's eyes widened a little as the sudden realization, of who he was talking to, hit him.

"I am ok. I'm just having a pleasant conversation with this young man, here." Paul said and Jake smiled a little.

"Well, I am very glad to hear that Mr. Baxter, but it would appear that he is next. I'm afraid that I will have to steal him away." the interviewer said and Paul patted Jake's back.

"Ok, good luck in there. By the way have you seen my assistant, Gloria?" Paul asked and Jake shrugged.

"I did see this pretty girl with glasses walk by. But she was on the phone and looked really upset, almost as if she was on the verge of tears. Maybe that was her." Jake said and then he was pulled in for his interview. Paul walked down the hall and knocked on the door to Gloria's office. There was no answer, which was strange because Gloria hated it when people came into her office without her permission, so she always answered, even if it was just vocally.

Where else would Gloria be if she's not in her office? Running after me? No the kid saw her come this way. Maybe that wasn't Gloria, but there isn't much in these hallways. Paul hesitated before he knocked on Gloria's door again. He cracked the door open a little and saw an empty desk in a shaded room.

This place barely looks like an office, or at least one that's being used. Where are the pictures of her family? Her office supplies? Her laptop? Did Gloria suddenly quit and leave? Paul wondered but then he heard a noise from the far end of the room. He saw a door that must have some form of a closet and he walked towards it after he closed the door to Gloria's office. He took a deep breath before he quietly knocked on the thin door.

"Gloria? Are you in there?" Paul asked softly and he heard a nose being blown.

"Y-yes." He heard her voice crack out.

"Why are you in the closet?" He asked.

"So n-no one can... can... s-see me like this." He heard her weep and Paul felt nervous. He has never really been the one to comfort women when they were really upset. Though he does try he tends to make it a tad worse, which suddenly made I'm wonder what his wife saw in him.

"Well... ok... um... ok, how about this... I will just sit here and talk to you and not touch the door, ok?" Paul said as he sat down and leaned against the wall.

"W-well... ok..." Gloria sniffled.

"Ok, well, I would like to know why you are so upset." Paul said and he heard a new wave of tears fall.

Maybe that was too soon? Paul wondered.

"I am getting a divorce." Gloria mumbled after a while.

"What?" Paul said and Gloria blew her nose again.

"That's right. I guess I won't be Gloria Masters anymore. Just plain old Gloria Gilmore." She said and Paul rested his head on the wall ad stared at the ceiling.

"That man must be some kind of stupid, you know that right? You... uh... you are an incredible woman. You're smart and kind and you know what people need, which is incredibly impressive." Paul said and Gloria was silent for a moment.

"That's the problem, Mr. Baxter. He is so smart. His only flaw, really, was that he still had feelings for his college crush. I thought those feelings disappeared after she got married. But honestly I guess I was just fooling myself. And now he is divorcing me, and WHY? So that he can start up a company that basically creates ghost hunting equipment." She said and Paul was confused.

"Why ghost hunting equipment?" He asked and he heard Gloria scoff.

"Because apparently that bimbo that Vlad loves so much is a ghost hunter and he thinks that this company will make her so impressed that she'll have to fall for him. Another reason why he's divorcing me, so that he could marry her as soon as possible." Gloria angrily said and Paul wished to be more helpful.

"You know.., after my dad died, my mother didn't want to leave her room... she only came out around dinner time and she would nibble on whatever we made. Or whatever I made, because Adam was older so he started working with the company and I had just graduated so I could stay home with her. I was dating Franny at the time and she became worried for us. She was obviously worried about mom because she was so depressed and she was worried about me because, as she said 'the life is being sucked out of you'.

Which I still think is an exaggeration because I was just taking care of my mother. I mean sure my life style changed dramatically. I would watch cooking shows to make better tasting food and I would sew mom's ripped clothes and I would only leave the house to go grocery shopping, but I wouldn't say that my life was draining.

Anyways, Franny decided that the best thing for us was to get my mother someone to talk to because she use to be very sociable. Everyday we had people over for dinner, generally old biddies and they would talk to mom and usually gave me tips on things from cleaning a tub, to making French cuisine, to fixing rusted doorknobs. I learned a lot, but that's when I realized that I loved talking to new people and sharing stories with them. And mom got better; she started eating more and dressing up and fixing her make-up. And then one of our visitors said something like 'I make the best angel food cake. I am serious, it will grow the very wings on you. I am actually planning to take one to Ida's house tomorrow. She likes to throw a potluck every month or so because she believes that elderly people can still make some noise. Would you like to go with me?'

This was the first time someone invited mom to something after dad died and I felt blessed when she said that she would go. Once there she started a friendship with a handyman that later became my step-father. So today I will offer you the same advice my wife gave me... well, roughly the same advise... Gloria, you are upset and you will probably be mourning for a while. But sometimes the best thing we can do for ourselves is to share in human contact, preferably in the form of friendship. And later, when you're ready, your handyman will be there for you." Paul said quietly, but he knew that Gloria heard him.

"That's very touching, Mr. Baxter." She said and Paul couldn't help but smile a little.

"Well, I'm glad you think so, Gloria. But you see, life is messy and crazy and most times unfair, but at least it's life. The human race is complicated and they can never agree on the same things and there will always be fights and wars, but... death is universal. Everything, at one point or another, will die and that is something that's kind of... humbling... at least to me... It reminds me of this quote I tell my son when he has a bad day; and that's 'Everything will be alright in the end. If it is not alright, then it is not the end.'" Paul said and Gloria cracked the door open slightly.

"You're a good man, Paul. Thank you." he said and Paul smiled.

"You're welcome, Gloria. But can you do me a favor?" He asked and Gloria nodded.

"Can you clean yourself up, and go home? You are good at your job, but you need to be at home today." Paul said and Gloria looked surprised.

"Oh, sir, I don't think I can do that." She paused to sniffle.

"There are things that need to be filed, and, and, and, the shipment from yesterday will get here tonight, and- Your Meeting! What are you doing here?" She asked and Paul chuckled.

"The meeting started at 9:30." He said and Gloria stared at him.

"Are you teasing me so that I'll get riled up?" She asked and Paul shrugged.

"No, but I may have blown it anyways, so don't get crazy." He said.

"9:30, 9:30? But Adam asked to remind you about the meeting at 10. Eric, that manager from downstairs was standing right next to me when Adam told me." Gloria said and Paul scoffed.

"Figures, I can never understand why he has to do things behind my back and... wait... what did you say about the shipment from yesterday?" Paul asked.

"Oh, that? Yeah they will be back late tonight, so I usually let them in so that they can park the trucks." Gloria said and Paul remembered his brother's phone call.

"I thought they got a flat and were gonna be late." Paul said and Gloria scrunched her face a little.

"Well, Henry called me about half an hour ago and told me that they should be back by eleven or midnight. So if their tire broke after that then no one told me." She said and Paul shook his head.

"First, he reorders that machine we couldn't afford, then he lies about the time of the meeting and now he lies about the shipment?" Paul thought out loud.

"Who?" Gloria asked.

"Adam. I think something's going on with him." Paul said and Gloria finally pushed the door completely open and crawled out of the closet.

"Damn, it feels like a sauna in there." Paul said when he felt the heat hit his arm.

"There isn't much ventilation in there." Gloria said and Paul smiled.

"Take the rest of the day off, Gloria. I'll get a night guard to let the boys in tonight." Paul said kindly.

"Thank you, Mr. Baxter. But what are you going to do about Adam?" She asked and Paul shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I guess I'll confront him tomorrow. Who was beside you when Adam told you message?" Paul asked.

"That was the manager, Eric, from downstairs." She said and Paul nodded a little.

"Huh, I never thought of Eric as a handyman." He said and they both laughed.


	7. 12:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 7,

Franny was looking over some paperwork when she realized that she was out of coffee. She groaned in frustration and stood up.

"Hey, Millie, I'm gonna go ahead and take a thirty. If Mrs. Night and Mr. Edward show up to discuss the problems with their custody agreement, make sure they are separated. Mr. Edward can wait in my cubicle, and Mr. Pow is representing Mrs. Night, but I don't know where he is." Francine said and Millie nodded.

"Ok, Mrs. Baxter, but if the fists start flyin' befor' I see 'em then let me just say that ain't my fault." she said and Francine laughed.

"Ok, deal." Franny said and she walked out of the office. She craned her neck and sighed at the cool breeze as it nips her skin. Sometimes a cool breeze gave more pleasure then watching your favorite part of your favorite movie. Francine was heading to this small coffee shop that's owned by a sweet little newly wed couple. She pushed open the iron door and smiled at the familiar atmosphere. The wife, May, is a fantastic artist that paint everything in the restaurant where as her husband, Zack, use to be a bartender and turned his bar tending showmanship into a barista career. Normally when she first enters the establishment, she will immediately be greeted by the local baker from down the street, Mr. Fieri, and they would discuss different Diner's and such before she got her coffee. But today she saw the baker talking to a man in a professional looking suit. She felt a little awkward at the thought of interrupting the conversation without a good reason. So she decided to simply walk up to the counter and order her coffee and cheese danish. She heard Mr. Fieri's robust laugh which oddly made her think of Santa Clause with 'warm-soup-belly'. Francine smiled to herself as she wondered how Tommy would like Mr. Fieri. Perhaps he will even fall in love with baking and working in Mr. Fieri's store when he is older.

Hold on Francine, you're getting a head of yourself. After all Tommy really loves sports. She thought to herself. Francine's mind acknowledged the fact that the door behind her had opened and shut which meant that Mr. Fieri left. But soon after that, Francine was shocked to feel pressure on her behind. Someone was brushing two fingers against her butt and up to her hips and she gritted her teeth. After a long day in the office, she is tired enough, so she didn't need any perverts intruding her personal space on her lunch break. She whipped around hand in the air and she ended up slapping nothing. The man who had touched her had taken a step back and was grinning like a neanderthal.

"Paul!" Francine said annoyed and he laughed.

"Yes, pretty lady?" He answered and Francine tried to stay mad but a small chuckle escaped and she couldn't help but smile.

"I thought you were suppose to be at work." She said and Paul shrugged.

"Well I was, er, I am, but I knew that you try to take your break at around noon and I wanted to be with you." Paul said and Francine blinked a little then broke out in a wide grin.

"Francine, order's up." One of the barista's said and she walked over to the pick-up counter, but she noticed something wrong.

"Jamie where's my cheese danish?" She asked and the barista sighed heavily.

"Today the man asked for you to only get your drink instead of danish. He gave no real reason, but said something about a surprise." She said and Francine turned her daggers towards her husband.

"So what? You're going to tell me what I can and can't eat?" She asked once she walked back over to him.

"Well, only for today's lunch." Paul said before grabbing his wife's hand and leading her out of the shop.

"So what did you get to drink today?" Paul asked Francine raised her left eyebrow.

"Nothing special, just my usual drink. A marble mocha with two shots of caramel." she said before taking a cautious sip that burned her taste buds.

"Oh, yeah, I should remember that." Paul said out loud and Franny gently bumped him with her hip. After a minute of walking they ended up in front of Sweet Spirits aka. Mr. Fieri's bakery.

"Here my Queen, sit at your throne." Paul said as he motioned to one of the outdoor tables. Franny giggled and gave him a quick kiss.

"Are you planning something?" She asked and Paul gave her a devilish grin.

"Nothing special, just sit down." Paul said and Francine laughed as she sat down. Paul was barely gone when he returned with a box labeled 'Sweet Spirits' and a bag labeled 'Fat Ghosts".

"Dear sweet Aphrodite, I am but a humble creature in search of a beautiful woman, so I bring you a feast of cupcakes with your favorite frosting and burger from an establishment that I never heard of but was on the route I took here." Paul said and Franny chuckled

"Thank you, now will you tell me why you decided to show up today?" Franny asked and Paul sighed.

"Do you remember my assistant Gloria?" Paul asked and Franny nodded.

"Well it turns out that her husband is divorcing her." Paul said and Francine gasped a little.

"Vlad... is leaving her?" I asked in disbelief and Paul nodded.

"Yeah, apparently he told her today, over the phone." He said and this news began to anger Francine.

"I don't believe this, she fell in love with him back when he had ecto-acne and an empty wallet. Now, that he is handsome and earning big bucks he decides to leave her. They have ben married for five years, and didn't they date for two?" She asked and Paul thought about it.

"Actually I think they dated for three years before they got hitched." He said and She shook my head.

"Idiot. And poor Gloria, how's she handling the news?" She asked and Paul paused, as if a memory was replaying in his mind.

"Well... um... I suppose she is handling it as best as she can." He said and Francine reached for one of the burgers.

"It may sound crazy, but it really kinda effected me. I mean we went to their wedding and even though it was small it was really beautiful." Paul said and Francine watched him.

"She's kinda your best friend right now isn't she?" I asked and Paul smiled at me, reached over and held my hand.

"Your my best friend for my whole life, never forget that. But i am still worried for Gloria. Is there any chance that you can go over to her house and spend a little girl time with her?" He asked and I smiled.

"No, but I am betting the she is in great need of chocolate ice cream, a chick flick, and some popcorn. And honestly, I don't see any reason why you couldn't bring those items to her." She said and Paul blinked.

"What?" He asked.

"I'm serious, you know her better then I do, I have to go back to work soon, and by the sound of your voice, there aren't a lot of people who know this news yet. Just bring over a movie like Serendipity, Sleepless in Seattle, or Simply Irresistible." She said and Paul reached for a burger.

"But you like watching horror films when your sad." He said and Franny nodded.

"Yes, but most girls like something sad, or lovey-dovey. I prefer to watch innocent soul getting tortured out of their bodies because it makes me feel better." Francine said nonchalantly.

"You can be dark and creepy, but I love it." Paul said as she bit into her burger.

"You know if your not going back to work you could get Serendipity from the house, I actually have a copy of it." Franny said and Paul blinked.

"Why do you have a romantic comedy, you hate those." Paul asked.

"You don't remember? Adam got me it for my birthday last month." I said and Paul rolled his eyes and angrily muttered Adam's name as Francine picked up a cupcake. She took a bite and quietly moaned as she tasted the whipped topping. Looking up she was glad to see Paul staring at her. She gave him a seductive grin, licked the white substance off her lips (Which made him drool) and continued to eat her lunch.


	8. 1:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's character's

Chapter 8,

Gloria was going through a second box of tissues as she looked at her wedding album. She threw her glasses across the room. She didn't need to see happy memories to remember the happy times. Her eye's filled with tears and she hugged the album, almost hoping that if she hugged it tight enough, that maybe, just maybe, she would be transported back to that day. Even though Vlad was a typically serious guy, he actually pushed a piece of wedding cake against her face. She was surprised at this, but she laughed and kissed him. They laughed, and hugged, getting cake all over their formal wear. Gloria thought they would always be together. A new wave of tears started when Gloria heard a knock at the door.

I only thought about ordering Chinese food, right?

She wondered before walking over to her door. She looked trough the blinds and saw a man's legs, but nothing else. Confused, she went ahead and opened the door, just to see Paul standing there with a movie and some ice cream. He smiled and held up the items in his hands, with a shrug.

"I thought that you would want to have some company?" Paul suggested and Gloria gave him a faint smile.

"Your very sweet, but you probably shouldn't be here." Gloria said and Paul blinked.

"Why not." Paul said and Gloria paused.

"Your my boss. I'm your secretary. If people heard that you were here at my house, they may start talking. The whole office would start looking at me as if I was your mistress. And they may say that my divorce is because of our so called affair." Gloria said and Paul blinked.

"I understand your concern, Gloria. But honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Anyone who knows me, knows that I care about the people I work with. Besides, it was actually my wife's idea to come down here. And if anyone can sort out a sore situation, it's Franny." Paul said and Gloria smiled.

"Yeah, your right. Come on in." Gloria said and they entered her home. Paul quickly found the kitchen and put down the ice cream.

"Want some ice cream?" Paul asked and Gloria didn't want to saw 'yes' immediately so instead she just said,

"What kind is it?" She asked and Paul smiled.

"I have cookies and cream here, but I also have dreamsicle in the car." Paul said and Gloria smiled.

"Two of my favorite flavors. How did you know?" Gloria asked and Paul chuckled.

"Because we have to have those two flavors at office parties because you always ask if we bought it or not." Paul said and Gloria blushed.

"Here, put this movie in while I go back to the car." Paul said and Gloria took the movie 'Sleepless in Seattle' out of Paul's hand. She rose a eyebrow at his selection, but Paul had already went outside before she could ask. So she just went ahead and put the disc in the DVD player. When Paul returned, he went straight to the kitchen again. He had more then just dreamsicle in his hands. He had also bought popcorn and a pack of Dr. Pepper. Gloria smiled and walked over to him.

"Almost seems like you have a Gloria Gilmore file at your disposal." Gloria said and Paul was confused.

"What do you mean by that?" Paul asked and Gloria shrugged.

"Well, I still don't think that Vlad knows my favorite ice cream, or that I love Dr. Pepper. But you do." Gloria said and Paul's eyes widened.

"Then he really didn't deserve you." Paul said and Gloria smiled, but was blinking to avoid crying.

"If that's true then why do I feel so... broken." She said and Paul paused.

"Well, just because he didn't deserve you... that doesn't mean that you can't be upset at a chapter in your life is... uh... changing." Paul said cautiously and Gloria took the dreamsicle ice cream from Paul.

"So, um... Why did you bring 'Sleepless in Seattle'?" Gloria asked and Paul smiled.

"Franny said that it was at home. And I have never seen it, but I figured that you may want to see it." Paul suggested and Gloria laughed.

"I actually haven't seen it." Gloria said when Paul threw a bag of popcorn into the microwave.

"Cool, then we can compare notes afterwards." Paul said and Gloria shrugged. She got up and grabbed a spoon and a can o Dr. Pepper.

"Are you gonna have any of the dreamsicle ice cream." Gloria asked and Paul shrugged.

"I actually prefer the cookies and cream, so I see myself sticking to that one." Paul said confused and Gloria smiled.

"Cool." She said simply, and then she opened the dreamsicle, took her spoon and created a small crater.

"What are you doing?" He asked and Gloria giggled as she opened the Dr. Pepper and gently poured it in the crater.

"It's kinda like an ice cream float. But it's a soda float." She said and Paul smiled.

"That doesn't actually look half-bad." Paul said and Gloria smiled.

"Oh, I do have some Doritos in the pantry. It goes great with ice cream." She said and Paul smiled.

"I agree." He said and grabbed the chips. Gloria saw Paul pour the chips in a big bowl and suddenly she started laughing so Paul looked over at her.

"What?" He asked and Gloria shook her head.

"It's just that suddenly it felt like one of the sleepovers I had as a kid." Gloria said and Paul shrugged.

"Well, I'm not sleeping over but sounds fun." Paul said and Gloria smiled.

"Ready to start that movie?" Gloria asked and Paul nodded.

"Yeah, go ahead." He said simply.


	9. 2:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 9,

The movie 'Sleepless in Seattle' ended and Gloria and Paul stared at the credits as they passed. Gloria the one who broke the silence first.

"Interesting." She said and Paul glanced at her.

"I agree. Very interesting." Paul said and Gloria smiled at him.

"You, sir, are a terrible at lying." She said and Paul sighed.

"You're right. I didn't like it. Maybe that has something to do with me not liking romantic comedies." Paul admitted and Gloria giggled.

"I don't think so, because I like romantic comedies and I was not a fan of it. But I think that we would have liked it if we had seen that movie they kept talking about." Gloria said and Paul shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe. What was it called again?" He asked and Gloria smiled.

"Uh, it was An Affair to Remember." Gloria recalled and Paul nodded.

"Yeah, it was. What time is it?" Paul asked and Gloria looked at her clock.

"Look's like it's 2:45 right now." Gloria said and Paul sighed.

"It's getting close to Tommy's play date with Danny." Paul said and Gloria smiled.

"I'm glad that those too are friends. I really feel like Tommy can boost Danny's confidence, and that Danny can help keep Tommy grounded." She said and Paul blinked.

"Do you think Tommy is some daydreamer?" Paul said and Gloria shook her head.

"No, no, that's not what I mean. But I think that you're keeping me grounded right now, and if I had a friend in the past to ground me then I may have seen this divorce coming. Vlad can be sweet and charming when he chooses to be. But I doubt that Danny would let Tommy go through that, if he saw it coming." She explained and Paul nodded.

"Ok, well, I guess I understand that." Paul said and Gloria smiled.

"So I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're leaving now." Gloria said and Paul stood up and stretched.

"Yeah, I gotta pick up the boys." He said and Gloria walked him to her door.

"Oh, and I went ahead and called the night security officer and asked him to stay late so that he can let in that shipment tonight." Gloria said and Paul blinked.

"I completely forgot about that shipment. Thank you, Gloria." He said and Gloria waved it off with a smile.

"Forget about it, it's my job." Gloria said and they waved good bye. Paul was glad that Gloria lived so close to the preschool, because he got to the building right at pick-up time. He ran up and entered the first door on the left.

"Hey, buddy." Paul said as Tommy ran up and jumped into Paul's arms.

"Daddy, today we had art, and I told the teacher about your cardboard kingdom. And that I was the prince, and-"

"Mr. Baxter." The teacher, Mrs. America said and Paul looked up at her.

"Can we talk for a moment?" She asked and Paul nodded.

"Alright, Tommy, can you wait by the door, we got to pick up Danny when I'm done talking to your teacher." Paul said and Tommy smiled.

"Yeah, I like playing with Danny," Tommy said and Paul chuckled then walked over to the teacher.

"Is there a problem?" He asked and Mrs. America nodded.

"You see we were talking about animal's in the wild and the children had to write a poem about their favorite animal and color a giraffe. Your son's poem was fine, but take a look at this giraffe that your son colored." She said, handing him the paper, and Paul looked down on it. The giraffe was green with purple spots, and it was eating leaves from a tree that was red with silver bark.

"Hmm, that it different." Paul said and the teacher scoffed.

"That is not the assignment that we told him." The teacher said and Paul looked at her.

"Well, did you ask Tommy why he colored the giraffe this way?" Paul said and the teacher blinked.

"Of course, not." She said and Paul smiled even though he felt insulted. Paul turned around and asked Tommy to come forward.

"You know, Tommy, your teacher was showing me this picture you had done, and I think it's really super. But I don't remember showing you a giraffe that looked like that. Can you tell me why it looks like that?" Paul said and Tommy giggled.

"He's sick." He said and Mrs. America blinked.

"The giraffe is sick?" She asked and Tommy smiled.

"The giraffe has that Bubonic Plague. And we want Mr. Giraffe to feel better so I gave him a cherry medicine tree, which tastes yucky, but it's good for him." Tommy explained and Paul looked over at the teacher.

"Isn't he a little young to know about the Bubonic Plague?" Paul asked and the teacher blushed.

"We were talking about why going to the doctor is important and another student brought that up. I didn't say much, except it's an illness that use to affect lots of people until doctor's figured out how to stop it." Mrs. America said and Paul nodded.

"Ok, Tommy, this picture was suppose to look like a giraffe that you would see in the zoo. This was an assignment, not art." Paul said and Tommy blinked.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Tommy said and Mrs. America smiled.

"That's alright, Tommy. Next time I'll make sure that you know the difference." She said and with the tip of his imaginary hat, Paul and Tommy walked down the hall and towards Danny's classroom. Soon all three boys were in Paul's car, and Paul was listening to the boy's talk.

"Oh, by the way, I have a little surprise at home, Tommy." Paul said and Danny looked at him.

"What's that?" Tommy asked and Paul smiled.

"I'll show you when we get home. But I want both of you boys to promise to take care of it, because it took me a long time to build." Paul said and the preschoolers giggled excitedly.

"We promise." They both said and Paul chuckled at them.


	10. 3:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters

Chapter 10,

Danny and Tommy were surprised to see that Paul had created a tiny box kingdom. They rushed towards it and Paul opened the 'drawbridge' so that they could enter it.

"Wow, dad, this is so cool." Tommy said and Danny shook his head.

"Yeah, let's play knights." Danny said and Tommy giggled.

"Ok, I'll be the good knight and defend this kingdom, and you will be the bad knight who is trying to take the kingdom away from me." Tommy said and Danny pursed his lips.

"I don't want to be a bad knight." Danny said and Tommy shrugged.

"Well, you have to be. This castle is in my home, and so it's mine, and that makes me the king." Tommy said and Danny pouted more.

"No fair, I don't have a castle." Danny said and Paul reached over and put his hand on Tommy's shoulder.

"Boys, I think I have the answer." Paul said and they both turned to him.

"I can be the bad knight, and you two can be the good knights and fight me together." Paul said and Danny smiled.

"Oh, cool." Danny said and Tommy smiled.

"Ok, daddy." Tommy said and Paul laughed.

"Good, so who wants some armor. I have a little shield and sword for you, here, Tommy." Paul said and Tommy reached out for them, and Danny looked down.

"Don't worry, Danny I went ahead and made a set for you, too." Paul said as he handed them their little costumes.

"What about you, dad." Tommy asked and Paul looked at some of the extra cardboard.

"Well, uh, just a minute." Paul said and he walked over to an empty box that wasn't broken down and pulled his box cutter from the childproof drawer. He cut a place for his head and that became his helmet; then he grabbed a flat piece of cardboard and made a fast tape handle, and this became his shield; then he grabbed a postal tube and this became his sword.

"Ok, you boys ready?" Paul asked and he heard the sound of two mischievous boys giggling.

"Yes." They both said and Paul slowly walked towards the castle. He walked heavily so that the boys could hear his footsteps, and he walked until he could see the eyes of Tommy and Danny.

"BEWARE! I Am The Box Knight. And I Am Here To Rob You Of Your Precious Box Kingdom." Paul said theatrically and Tommy rushed through the drawbridge.

"You Shall Not Steal MY Castle!" Tommy said in the same theatrical way as his dad.

"Yeah, buddy. You're sorry that you met the likes of us." Danny said, hopping out of the castle like Tommy did.

"OH, No. Two Knights. However Shall I Survive?" Paul said and then he pointed his 'sword' at the two boys.

"You better be scared." Tommy said before swinging his sword at Paul. Paul easily blocked it with his sword, but pretended as if Tommy's sword was the weight of the world.

"You Have Such A Mighty Hand!" Paul said and Danny giggled.

"Prepare to lose." Danny said and he swung his sword at Paul's head, and Paul lifted his arm just in the nick of time.

"Oh, No, I Have Been Cut. I Must Fight For The Box Kingdom." Paul said and Tommy smiled at Danny, they both swung at Paul's side and Paul carefully landed onto his back.

"Ow, Ow, Ow. Be Merciful, Kind Knights." Paul said and the boys laughed as they hit him some more. Then he gently tapped his 'sword' against Tommy's legs, which made Tommy squeal in delight.

"Come on daddy." Tommy said and then Danny grabbed the front of his shirt.

"Is something wrong, Danny?" Paul asked and Danny shook his head.

"No, sir. I'm just getting a little hungry." Danny said and Paul nodded.

"Right, your mother normally gives you boys a snack, huh." Paul said and Tommy nodded.

"Ok, well, how about this. I'll go fix a snack while you and Danny color and personalize your shields with your crayons. Then when we are don eating we can play fight over the castle. And maybe if we have time, we can go out into the yard and play catch before Danny's parents come over and pick him up." Paul said and Tommy pumped his fist.

"Alright." He said and Danny rushed to his backpack to grab his crayons. Paul took off his armor and walked up to the kitchen and he looked in the fridge.

"Grilled cheese? No, Tommy likes ketchup and Danny likes tomato soup, and they argued last time I made that. Uh, P.B.J., maybe. I don't see any jelly, so forget that. Ants on a log... I think the boys licked the raisins and peanut butter off of it last time... Uh... They like carrots, so I can take that out there." Paul paused to take the carrots out of the fridge. Then, seeing that the pantry door was opened, he closed the fridge door and looked inside that.

"Cereal, too sugary. Quesadillas, not enough cheese and chicken. Granola bars, I don't remember if Danny likes granola. Oh, wait." Paul said as he noticed a can near the back. He reached in and pulled out a large can of spaghetti O's, and he smiled.

"Oh, now this is perfect. They eat as much as they want, and if they don't finish it, then I will polish it off." Paul said as he placed it on the island and started his search for the can opener. He opened the can, heated it up, and made two plates for the boys. Their plates had a small ladle of spaghetti O's, some carrots, and Paul went ahead and placed a banana, from the fruit bowl, on the plate. He made sure that the heat was turned down on the spaghetti O's and put a timer on his watch for ten minutes. Paul figure that it would be better for him to turn off the heat after he gave the boys a chance to eat it when it's hot. When he returned to the basement, he saw the kids laying on their stomachs, next to each other, and Paul couldn't help but smile. He loved that Tommy and Danny were friends. He hoped that they would be friends forever.

"I got food." Paul said and Tommy shifted to look at him.

"Ooo, that smells so good." Tommy said, licking his lips and Danny looked at his food with confusion.

"What's this." Danny said and Tommy looked at him.

"Are you talking about the spaghetti O's?" Tommy asked and Danny nodded.

"Why did you cook round noodles for the spaghetti? I have never seen round noodles for spaghetti before." Danny said and Paul chuckled.

"Danny this is not spaghetti. Or at least it's not traditional spaghetti. This is from a can, and it is called 'Spaghetti O's' because the pasta is round. Go ahead and try it. If you don't like it then I can make you a peanut butter fold-over." Paul said and Danny got a spoonful and eyed it for a minute before taking a hesitant bite.

"Huh, that's good." Danny said and Paul chuckled again.

"I got plenty more, so you guys can eat up, ok?" Paul said, mostly to Danny though.

"Will do." Danny said.  
[Be sure to check out my stories on FanFiction.Net. I only post completed stories here on AO3, and you may want to see what’s happening over there.]


	11. 4:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 11,

"Scooby-Dooby-Doo. Where are you. We need some help from you now." Tommy and Danny sang way too off-key and Paul chuckled at them. All of a sudden Paul looked down and he saw that Francine was calling him. Paul got up off of the couch and he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, hon." Paul said and he could hear Francine shuffle papers. At first he believed this was a pocket dial.

"Oh, uh, Paul, I just noticed the time, and I wanted to double-check and make sure that you picked up the kids for their play date." Franny said and Paul looked over at Tommy and Paul.

"Um, no, where are the kids?" Paul asked trying not to smile so his voice sounded serious.

"No, don't tell me that you forg- wait, are you watching Scooby-Doo?" Francine noticed and Paul blinked.

"Uh, yeah. I am. Didn't I tell you that I love old Scion and his buddies?" Paul said and Francine chuckled.

"Ok, what episode are you on?" Francine asked and Paul looked over and he saw some clown.

"Um, you know I actually forgot the name of this episode." Paul said and Francine chuckled.

"What's happening then?" Francine asked.

"Watch the pretty coin of gold, and you will do as you are told." The red clown said and Paul tilted his head.

"Um, they are dealing with Pennywise?" Paul said unsure, since he stopped watching the episode.

"Heh, oh Paul. Just admit that you picked up the kids." Francine said and Paul groaned.

"But I don't wanna." Paul complained and Francine giggled at him.

"Oh, you." Francine said and Paul smiled.

"Alright, I did pick up the kids, happy now?" Paul asked and he sensed her nod.

"Yes, and that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Francine asked and Paul started to gag quietly.

"It burns my throat like acid." Paul said.

"Oh, grow up." Francine said and Paul chuckled.

"If I grew up you would stop loving me." Paul said and Francine scoffed.

"Do you actually think that I want to be married to man child for the rest of my life?" Francine asked.

"Well, kinda, since you married me." Paul said and Franny paused.

"Ok, you hear me shuffling papers around my desk? Those are divorce papers. One little signature and you, my man child, won't be my husband anymore?" Francine said and Paul rolled his eyes.

"I believe it needs two signatures, my love. Besides you love me. You said so earlier." Paul said and Francine huffed.

"Times have changed. There is nothing wrong being a bit more adult and mature." Francine said and Paul smirked.

"You love me as the man child I am." Paul said.

"What makes you so sure?" Francine teased.

"Because we are more fun. I mean the first time we danced was in the middle of a storm. You came over the next day because I was sick, and took care of me. Remember that?" Paul asked and Franny reminisced.

"Yeah, you wanted to watch Tom and Jerry and you slurped your soup on purpose just to bug me." Franny said and Paul chuckled.

"And do you remember the way I asked you out on a date?" Paul said.

"Yeah, we were at the grocery store, and we bumped into each other 3 times. After the third time, you asked to play a small game of charades. 'Want 2 go to the movies'?" Francine said and Paul nodded.

"Or how about the day I asked you to be my wife? I took you to the beach, and I built you that sandcastle." Paul said and Francine chuckled.

"You worked on that thing all day. When it was done you called me over and I came; and I said you did a good job." Francine said.

"Then I told you that I forgot one last thing. I asked you to turn around for a moment, just a moment, so I could surprise you." Paul said.

"And I was surprised. I turned around and you put the ring in the middle tower, and in front of the castle you wrote 'will you marry me'?" Francine said.

"You accepted and took the ring, which broke the castle a little." Paul said with a chuckle.

"But you didn't get mad. You said 'that's ok. We have a lifetime to build sandcastles together'." Franny continued and they were both silent for a moment.

"See, man children are silly, and fun, and completely lovable." Paul said and Francine sighed.

"I hate when I can't argue with you." Francine said happily.

"Nah, Nah." Paul teased and Francine giggled.

"Ok, Paul. Listen, I think I'll get home at 7, and I know that our reservation is at 8, so I was hoping that you could do me a favor. After Danny leaves at 5, and you talk to Maddie about watching Tommy, do you mind setting out some things for me?" Francine asked and Paul glanced at the clock. Danny's parents would be here in an hour or so.

"Yeah, sure babe, what do you need?" Paul asked and Francine took a deep breath.

"Um, I was thinking of wearing that long purple dress. I hoped that you could set that out on the bed for me." Francine asked.

"Done, anything else?" Paul asked.

"Um, I would like it if you could get my caboodle out from the child proof cabinet then make sure that Tommy stays away from it." Francine asked.

"Sure, I'll keep it in the bedroom. But for the record, Tommy only got into your makeup once." Paul said.

"He smeared it all over the wall." Franny said and Paul shrugged.

"Nothing that couldn't be washed off." Paul said.

"That makeup was expensive, Paul." Francine complained, though she gushed her voice because she didn't want to shout.

"Ok, ok, if there anything else?" Paul asked.

"No, I don't think so." Francine said.

"Oh, please, anything at all." Paul said sarcastically.

"Oh, in that case." Francine said sarcastically.

"Yes?" Paul said.

"Perhaps you could collect me 40 pieces of silver from Kissimmee." Francine said and Paul chuckled.

"I'll try my best." Paul said and Franny chuckled.

"Are the boys enjoying Scooby-Doo?" Francine asked and Paul sighed.

"Tommy is." Paul said.

"Danny isn't?" Francine asked.

"In a different way. You know his parents are ghost hunters. He keeps telling Tommy how his folks would catch the ghost, even though it's not a real ghost." Paul said, and Francine laughed.

"Oh, those Fentons. Ok, I really should go now." Francine said.

"Ok, I'll see you later." Paul said.

"I love you." Franny said.

"I love you too." Paul said.


	12. 5:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 12,

"Danny, honey." Mrs. Fenton said sweetly when she walked up to the garage and saw Tommy and Danny sword fighting.

"Oh, hey Maddie. You thirsty?" Paul said and Maddie glanced at the boys.

"Oh, I would hate to break that up. So I guess I'll take you up on that drink." Maddie said and she walked over and kissed the top of Danny's head.

"Hi, mom." Danny said.

"Hi, hon. Listen, Danny, I'm gonna get a drink, but when I come back you need to say goodbye to Tommy, ok?" Maddie said and Danny nodded.

"Ok, mommy." Danny said and they continued to play.

"Ah, to be young again." Maddie said as she followed Paul into the house.

"I know, life is much simpler then." Paul said and Maddie blinked.

"Something up?" Maddie asked and Paul sighed.

"Work stuff... kinda family stuff... it would probably just bore you." Paul said. He knew the box industry wasn't as exciting as ghost hunting.

"Oh, come on. Perhaps I can provide some insight to the problem." Maddie said.

"It's nothing really, it's just... well, my brother Adam reordered something I canceled. Then he abandoned me at a meeting; a meeting he made me late for. And I guess I don't know how to handle that." Paul said and Maddie paused.

"Have you talked to Adam about it?" Maddie asked and Paul sighed.

"Not really. I'm not great at confrontation; especially with family." Paul said and Maddie grabbed two glasses from the cabinet.

"Perhaps you should. If nothing else to check on Adam and make sure that everything is ok." Maddie said and Paul got out a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge.

"I don't think I really need to be worried about him, Maddie." Paul said and Maddie sighed.

"Can I share something personal?" Maddie asked and Paul thought that was a little odd.

"Sure." Paul said and Maddie took a deep breath before she continued.

"Back in high school, I was friends with a girl named Amber Lancer." Maddie started and this name sounded familiar.

"Huh, 'Amber Lancer'? Wasn't she the sister of-"

"Please let me finish, Paul." Maddie said and Paul paused and nodded so she could finish.

"Amber was a good girl. But she started dating this bad boy, and she made herself bad for him. She picked a lot of bad habits; drinking, smoking, cheating, etc. I hoped it was a phase but it wasn't... If I could go back in time I would have helped her when I could. Maybe if I helped her before she got into all that stuff, then maybe she wouldn't have died." Maddie said and Paul didn't know what to say. The only thing he could think to do is fill her glass with lemonade.

"As the song goes, 'where did I go wrong, I lost a friend'. Though that song is about a friend who committed suicide. Amber died in a... well, she didn't kill herself that's the difference." Maddie said and Paul sighed.

"I'm sorry about your friend." Paul said and Maddie took a long sip of her drink.

"It's almost funny though. She died in the middle of the night and that night, before I even heard the news, I had a dream about Amber. And she... well, she was in this strange world and she was trying to remember who she was. The only real clue she had was this piece of paper that she was holding, but I'm not sure what it said. So when I woke up, and then I heard about her death. Well, I guess that made me wonder if Amber was trying to tell me something from beyond the grave." Maddie said.

"Is that what got you interested in ghosts, and ghost hunting?" Paul asked and Maddie shrugged.

"Oh, I don't know. I always enjoyed the supernatural. I suppose Amber was the reason I started to take it all seriously." Maddie commented and they were silent for a moment. Outside you could hear Tommy and Danny playing and Maddie smiled.

"I miss my friend, but I suppose there is a chance that I wouldn't be a ghost hunter if she hadn't passed away. If I wasn't into ghosts, then I wouldn't have met Jack, and we wouldn't have Jazz and Danny." Maddie said and Paul sighed.

"Yeah, she sounds like she really meant a lot to you." Paul said and Maddie nodded.

"She did. Even with all of the yelling and fighting and insults, I still cared about her. And I still miss her. And I try to remember her the way she was... before she changed herself." Maddie said and Paul smiled.

"I'm sure she would have liked that." Paul said.

"Maybe, maybe not. She seemed to really enjoy her new look. But that's not why I am talking about Amber today." Maddie said and Paul blinked at her.

"I'm talking about Amber, because she use to be real sneaky and... If I may be blunt with you, I would suggest that perhaps Adam has an addiction of some sort." Maddie said and Paul froze.

"Addiction...? Adam? No way, the guy basically has everything he could want. Why would he turn to drugs. Heck, Adam lives in a nice place, where would he even find drugs?" Paul said and Maddie shrugs.

"The rich and the poor can fall victim to drugs, Paul. And I don't know Adam really well, so maybe he is going through something else. Like a secret girlfriend, or maybe he is distracted by some physical issue: but my point is that you really should talk to Adam and figure out what is wrong." Maddie said and Paul drank some lemonade.

"I don't want to accuse Adam of anything." Paul said.

"Then don't, Paul. Try to approach him in a loving and judge free manner. I'm sure that whatever it is can be dealt with." Maddie said and Paul sighed.

"You're right, Maddie. I love my brother and I would die for him. I just hope Adam remembers that." Paul said and Maddie nodded.

"I'm sure he does. When do you want to talk to him?" Maddie asks and Paul sighed.

"I got a date with Francine tonight, so I think I'll just talk to him tomorrow." Paul said and Maddie nodded.

"Well, I hope that it isn't something too serious." Maddie said and she smiled softly at Paul.

"Yeah, me too." Paul whispered.


	13. 6:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom Or it's characters.

Chapter 13,

After Maddie took Danny home, Paul ran up and set up the items Francine asked for. Then, to have a little bonding time with Tommy, Paul grabbed an old football from his sports room, and he took Tommy out to the lawn.

"Are

We gonna play catch daddy?" Tommy asked and Paul chuckled.

"Yeah, I know we haven't played all week and I'm sorry about that." Paul said and Tommy smiled.

"Oh, that's ok. I know that you have been busy with uncle Adam and your work stuff." Tommy said understandingly and Paul took a deep breath.

"And I'm glad that you're not upset, Tommy, but it would be alright if you were. I think a man should make an effort to spend quality time with his kids." Paul said.

"Well I do like playing with you daddy." Tommy said and Paul smiled.

"Ah, Tommy my boy, I would play with you every day if I could. I try to, at least, but I wish I could do more." Paul said and then he tossed the football up into the air and he caught it.

"But for now why don't we start with a simple game of catch?" Paul asked and Tommy giggled.

"I would like that dad. I have a question." Tommy said.

"What's your question son?" Paul asked and Tommy pointed at the ball.

"Why are we using that ball?" Tommy asked and Paul blinked.

"The football?" Paul asked to clarify and Tommy nodded.

"Yeah, normally when we play catch, we use my blue ball. But that ball is not my blue ball." Tommy said and Paul chuckled.

"Well, Tommy, this is the type of ball I use to play catch with." Paul said and Tommy's eyes widened.

"Really?" He asked and Paul smiled.

"Yeah. Do you remember daddy telling you that he really loved sports when he was in school?" Paul asked.

"I 'member." Tommy said and Paul thought that was adorable.

"Well, one of my favorite sports was a game called football." Paul said and Tommy pointed at the football.

"Like that." Tommy exclaimed and Paul chuckled at his boy.

"Exactly, Tommy. This is the ball they use for the game. Think of football like grownup catch." Paul said and Tommynodded

"That sounds like an easy game." Tommy said and Paul chuckled.

"It can be. At least once you understand the game. I would be happy to teach you a little bit about football." Paul suggested. Paul wasn't gonna jump off of the deep end and try to make Tommy into an overnight football sensation. But he could start with the basics. After all, if Tommy wants, Paul can teach him more when he is older.

"Yeah, teach me football!" Tommy cries and Paul loved this reaction so much.

"Ok, first of all, I got to show you how to hold the football. Do you see these white things." Paul asked, pointing for Tommy to see.

"Uh-huh." Tommy said.

"These help you to hold the football correct." Paul said and Tommy looked surprised.

"They do?" Tommy asked and Paul smiled.

"Yeah, look here son. You put your fingers in between the white lines, see. And your thumb wraps down to strengthen your grip on the ball." Paul said and he slowly placed his fingers so that Tommy could see.

"Cool." Tommy commented.

"Then, once your fingers are in the right spot, you pull your arm back like this, see." Paul pulled the football just past his ear, and Tommy watched.

"Uh huh." Tommy said.

"Then you are free to throw it." Paul said and Paul gently threw the ball so that he could quickly catch it again.

"Cool beans." Tommy said and Paul smiled again.

"Ok, big boy, do you think you can do it?" Paul asked with a cocky expression and Tommy jumped up and down.

"Yeah, yeah, I can football." Tommy said and Paul said and he handed Tommy the football. It was a little big for Tommy's hands, so he had a little problem with it, but otherwise he handled it fine.

"Like this?" Tommy asked and Paul nodded.

"Yeah, that's perfect. Now just pull it back and throw it." Paul said and Tommy did so. But Tommy was disappointed when the ball landed at his own feet.

"Oh, it didn't go very far." Tommy muttered sadly and Paul picked up the ball and handed it back to Tommy.

"It's ok son, you're still learning the ropes. You shouldn't get discouraged just because you don't get it right away." Paul said and Tommy took a deep breath.

Tommy put his fingers in the correct places and then he tried again. Then again, and again, and again. After a few minutes of failed passes, Tommy started to cry and he plopped down on the moist grass.

"I can't football! I hate this game!" Tommy shouted and Paul was surprised at this display. Paul remembered something Francine said earlier about fathers putting too much pressure on their sons to be football stars and Paul sighed.

"We don't have to play if you don't want to." Paul said and Tommy looked up at him with tears eyes.

"No, I want to play. I just can't 'cause I can't football." Tommy said and Paul went ahead and sat in the grass with Tommy.

"Can I tell you a little secret?" Paul asked and Tommy sniffled and looked at him.

"When I was your age, I couldn't football either." Paul said and Tommy wiped his eyes.

"Really?" Tommy asked and Paul nodded.

"Yeah, I had a hard time with it. I use to play with your uncle Adam, when we were little. But Adam had an idea to boost my confidence and it helped me enjoy the game more." Paul said.

"What was that?" Tommy asked and Paul smiled as he remembered how silly it was.

"Adam gave me a nickname." Paul said and Tommy grew confused.

"How did a nickname make you better at playing football?" Tommy asked and Paul shrugged.

"I guess it got me out of my head. It may not make a lot of sense, but when I was playing the game, I was playing as another person." Paul said.

"You mean like a game of pretend. Like when Danny and I were playing knights?" Tommy asked.

"Actually, yeah." Paul said surprised.

"Cool, I wish I had a nickname. Then maybe I can football." Tommy said and Paul ruffled the young one's hair.

"Tommy you don't have to be good at football. You could grow up to be many, many different things." Paul said and Tommy crossed his arms.

"But I want to football as good as you do, daddy." Tommy said and Paul hesitated, then sighed.

"I can?" Tommy asked and Paul shrugged.

"Sure. You can borrow it until you get a new one that is." Paul said.

"Cool, daddy. What was your nickname?" Tommy asked and Paul straightened his back.

"Dash." Paul said proudly and Tommy got confused.

"Dash? Why that?" Tommy asked.

"Because I use to be really, really fast. And I really didn't want to be the Flash, so I was Dash." Paul said and Tommy giggled.

"So you were Dash?" Tommy said and Paul nodded.

"Yep, that's right. All my friends use to say 'there goes Dash Baxter, the fastest kid in school' and I was." Paul bragged.

"So, if I borrow your nickname, will I be Dash Baxter?" Tommy asked and Paul nodded.

"Just until you get another nickname, or when you just want to be Tommy again." Paul said.

"Cool, I'm Dash Baxter." Tommy said, jumping up.

"Ok, don't hurt yourself, Tommy." Paul said.

"No, no, not Tommy. Call me Dash." Tommy insisted and Paul chuckled softly.

"Ok, then. Dash are you ready to try again?" Paul asked as he handed Tommy looked at the ball.

"But what if the nickname and the blood isn't enough?" Tommy asked and Paul paused.

"Ok, then how about me?" Paul said and Tommy looked up at him.

"Huh?" Tommy asked and Paul nodded.

"Son, if you want to be a football star, then I will be there for you." Paul said.

"Mean it?" Tommy asked with a smile.

"I mean it with all my heart. In fact, if you're still playing football in high school, I'll scream and cheer for you. But oh no, I won't stop there, now will I?" Paul asked, and he went ahead and stood up.

"What else could you do?" Tommy asked and Paul smiled gently. He looked down at the football in Tommy's hands, and he slowly positioned the boy to throw the ball.

"Imagine you're older son." Paul said and he took small steps backwards as he talked.

"You're in a field with all of the players on the field and there are hundreds of fans and students calling your name to cheer you on. 'Dash, Dash, Dash, Dash.' If you close your eyes you might even hear them." Paul said and Tommy closed his eyes.

"I think I can hear them." Tommy whispered in amazement and Paul smiled.

"You have the ball and you are running to make a touchdown and win the game. This may be your greatest moment in your football career. So you look up at the stands to look up at the stands to look for your family. After a second, your very loud mother screams over the crowd and you spot her instantly." Paul paused when he heard Tommy giggled at that.

"But then you notice that I'm not with the family in the bleachers. You look back at the goal line and there I am. And I'm shouting too, just like your mother, but I'm saying 'come to me, come to me'. You start to run faster and I stay there, even though referees try to get me to leave. I say 'no, that's my boy' and you win the game. Now, Dash, throw the ball." Paul said and Tommy hauled back and threw the ball as hard as he could. Paul was standing about four yards away from Tommy, but that ball still shot over his head.

"Wow." Tommy said when he opened his eyes and saw how far he threw it that time.

"Ha-ha!" Tommy, you machine, how did you do that?" Paul said, running up to Tommy and picking him up.

"I-I don't know... I just... did it." Tommy said and Paul looked at the ball and pointed at it.

"See that, Tommy. That has got to be six or seven yards." Paul said and Tommy smiled.

"I guess I'm a good Dash then?" Tommy asked and Paul rolled his eyes.

"I suppose if you really wanted, you could be a better Dash then I was." Paul said and then Paul ticketed Tommy on his stomach and the two laughed.

"Ok, Tommy. You want to throw the ball some more before your mother gets home?" Paul asked and Tommy nodded.

"Yeah, but call me Dash. I think that works." Tommy said.

"Ok, ok, Dash." Paul said and he put Tommy down and he went after the football.


	14. 7:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 14,

"Hon, I'm home, where are you?" Francine called out and she set down her briefcase by the door.

"Bathroom!" Paul called out and Francine walked to the bedroom and glanced in the master bathroom, but she didn't see Paul. She took off her jacket and she saw her dress and caboodle on the bed. She smiled at them and then she walked out of her room and walked to the other bathroom. There she saw Paul in gray sweatpants and a white short-sleeved shirt. Which was simple, but Francine did think Paul looked attractive. Especially since she watched Paul give Tommy a bath.

"Ok, soldier. Your next mission is to eliminate the soap in your hair. Now we need to take preventative measures. You must close your eyes, cover your eyes with your hands and close your mouth tight." Paul said in a fun commander voice. Tommy sucked in his lips and puffed out his cheeks before closing and covering his eyes.

"Bath time?" Francine asked and Paul glanced at her and picked up an Eskimo Joe's cup.

"Hey hon, how was work?" Paul asked as he filled the cup and poured it gently on Tommy's head.

"Oh fine. Mr. Pow left his cubicle to use the restroom, and Mrs. Night saw my client, her ex, Mr. Edward. Millie saw Mrs. Night walking towards Mr. Edward and tried to get her attention, but it didn't work." Francine said.

"Oh? What happened?" Paul said and Francine sighed heavily.

"Stupidest thing. Mrs. Night wanted to hurt Mr. Edward, but she ended up hurting Millie. Millie's shoulder is dislocated and has a black eye." Francine and Paul turned around so she paused.

"Millie being hurt is stupid?" Paul asked and Francine groaned.

"No, that was awful. Mrs. Night threw a punch at Mr. Edward, he ducked and Millie was right behind him. So she got hit, fell back and hit a desk and dislocated her shoulder. That was terrible and scary." Francine said.

"So what was stupid?" Paul asked.

"So Millie gets taken to the hospital Mrs. Night, and Mr. Edward both went to the hospital. They said that they wanted to know that she was ok, but when they left I heard 'oh she's gonna sue you', 'No she's gonna sue you'." Francine said crossing her arms over her arms over her chest.

"You're right that is stupid." Paul said and he went ahead and turned back Tommy.

"Oh, it gets stupider. I call Millie up to check up on her, and see if I can hear some people talking and giggling in the background, so I ask who is with her, and she says that it's Mrs. Night and Mr. Edward. They want to talk to me that they want to put their case on hold because they want to try and work it out." Francine and Paul shrugged.

"Well maybe they'll get back together. I mean isn't that why people say love conquers all." Paul said and Francine sighed.

"Listen, I would love it if they got back together and stayed together. But they have been fighting for years. And, you know, part of me thinks their kid will try to get emancipated when they get old enough." Francine said and Paul sighed.

"Well, I'm sorry hon. I know you try to help people, but it's hard to help someone who doesn't want your help." Paul said and Francine nodded.

"At least tomorrow is a new day." Francine said and Paul smiled at her.

"Ok, Tommy, now I need you to shake your head crazily through your hair." Paul said and Tommy whipped some water off of his face.

"Dash." Tommy said, and Francine rose an eyebrow at that.

"Right, Dash, ok, now go." Paul said and Tommy shook his entire body while he shook his hair, which made Paul and Francine laugh.

"Am I clean now?" Tommy asked and Paul nodded.

"Ok, yeah, you're clean, now we got to get you dry and dressed before Catherine gets here." Paul said as he unplugged the drain. Francine went ahead and grabbed Tommy's race car towel and put it around her son.

"I guess someone has been talking about their glory days." Francine said as Tommy ran past them and to his room.

"What, the Dash thing?" Paul asked and Francine smiled at him.

"Yeah, the Dash thing." Francine said and Paul sighed.

"Oh, I brought a football to play football with, and Tommy felt bad because he couldn't throw it very far. He wanted to be an instant star, but I told him that if he wanted to be great he would need to practice." Paul said.

"And that's why you called our son Dash?" Francine asked and Paul rolled his eyes.

"No, I just told him that having a nickname helped me to get out of my head and if he wanted, he could borrow mine until he got his own." Paul said as he put the toy away and stood up.

"Well, that's very sweet honey but I gotta tell you... I'm not sure this house is big enough for two Dash's." Francine said sweetly, putting a towel around Paul's shoulder's and wrapped arms around Paul's neck.

"Ah, he's just borrowing it." Paul neck.

"Still." Francine said and she kissed Paul.

"I better help Tommy with his PJ's. I don't need him running around naked when kitty gets here." Paul said.

"Ah, he's just a little kid." Francine said, trying to mimic Paul's tone from earlier.

"Still." Paul said with a smile and he gave Francine another kiss before pulling away and walking after Tommy.


	15. 8:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 15,

"Right this way." The waiter said as he guided Paul and Franny to their table. Paul put that suit Gloria rented back on, and he could barely tear his eyes off of his wife.

"Here we are. Would you like

To take a look at the wine list?" The waiter asked and Paul hesitated.

"Uh, would you like any wine?" Paul asked and Franny shook her head.

"No, I'm fine." Franny said and Paul smiledz

"No wine today, thanks." Pail said and the waiter nodded.

"Very well, then. Here are your menu's and I'll give you a moment to look over your options." The waiter said, giving a small bow before walking away.

"You know this place seems a bit fancy for a bistro." Francine said and Paul shrugged.

"It's a small, white tablecloth restaurant. They serve wine, yeah, but look here they serve hamburgers." Paul said and Francine looked at the menu.

"I think that's actually sliders." Francine said and Paul looked at it again.

"That explains why it had an option of 3 or 6 burgers." Paul said and Franny giggled at her husband.

"Ok, well, what happened to the Fenton's watching Tommy?" Francine said and Paul sighed.

"To be completely honest, I was talking to Maddie about work, and I accidentally hit an emotional nerve and I couldn't ask her to babysit." Paul answered and Francine blinked at him.

"How did you, talking about work, hurt Maddie emotionally?" Francine asked and Paul hesitated.

"So, Adam was doing some odd things that bothered and confused me." Paul started and Francine rose an eyebrow at him.

"Like what?" Francine said and Paul sighed.

"Well, we canceled a machine, and when I came in this morning I hear that Adam reordered it. Then he changed the time of our meeting without telling me, so I was an hour late. And then he leaves the meeting to answer a call leaving me all alone." Paul said and Francine was gonna say something but then the waiter returned.

"Already folks, are you prepared to order?" The waiter said and Paul opened up his menu again.

"I think that I'll have the sliders." Paul said.

"Very good, would you prefer the serving of 3 or the serving of 6?" The waiter asked.

"Uh, I'll have 6." Paul said and the waiter wrote this down.

"Would you care for a side dish with that sir. Many people believe our Greek fries are highly addictive." The waiter said.

"Sure, that sounds good." Paul said and he closed his menu.

"Very good. And for you Madam?" The waiter said and Francine pointed to the menu.

"This half and half pasta, what are the two sauces? I only ask because one place had sharp cheddar and pesto, and I wasn't a fan." Francine asked and the waiter smiled.

"Understandable, madam. Our half and half pasta is the traditional marinara and Alfredo mixture." The waiter said and Franny smiled widely.

"Great, I'll have that." Francine asked.

"Would you care to have any meatballs or Italian sausage, or shrimp in your pasta tonight?" The waiter asked.

"Ooh, shrimp actually sounds really good. I'll have shrimp." Francine said and Paul smiled at how cute Francine was.

"Excellent choices. Will there be anything else?" The waiter asked.

"I think we are good for now." Paul said and the waiter did a little head nod and walked away.

"Alright, then. Where were we? Oh, right, your brother." Francine said and Paul sighed.

"Yeah, so I was telling all of this stuff to Maddie You'll never guess what Maddie thinks Adam is up to." Paul said and Francine took a sip of water.

"Drugs?" Francine inquired.

"No, Dru-huh?" Paul froze when he realized what Francine said.

"I'm sorry, Paul, but sometimes I talk to Maddie about Adam too." Francine commented and Paul sat back in his chair.

"Really?" Paul asked and Francine shrugged.

"I'm really close to her. We talk about lots of things." Francine said and Paul sighed.

"Still, why drugs of all things?" Paul asked.

"Look we could be wrong, ok. I just remember little things. Like times when his eyes are red and dilated. And there was a time he saw him talking to that shady character who he called an old friend. Or the time our car was in the shop so we borrowed Adams and he got pissed when we questioned him about some powder we found on the floorboard." Francine said and then she bit her lip.

"But... Adam is my older brother... he wouldn't... I mean why turn to drugs when he has me? If he had a problem we could talk about it." Paul said and Francine shrugged.

"You know hon, Adan wasn't the best at opening up and sharing his emotions." Francine said and Paul took a sip of his water.

"Still, I just." Paul hesitated.

"Listen, tomorrow you can talk to Adam. But I think that he's been having a hard time. I mean he is trying to get his book published, but everyone has been rejecting it. And his girlfriend Karen, he was with her for like two years and she left him for someone else. Plus how would it look to a perspective girlfriend that he works in a box factory." Francine said and Paul paused then he looked down at his water.

"And as much as you love him, Paul, he may not want to ask his little bro for help. After all, it's kinda the older siblings job to look after the younger ones. And, who knows, maybe Adam is a little jealous of you." Francine said.

"Franny, I doubt that." Paul said honestly.

"You are happy, Paul. You seem to be satisfied by your job, you have me and Tommy at home, and you seem to get along with everyone." Francine said and Paul gave a tilted smile.

"I don't know, Ms. Night did punch your assistant, so I may not get along with her. And I don't know if I could ever get along with Vlad again, since he was such a jerk to Gloria." Paul said and Francine scoffed.

"You know what I mean." Francine said and Paul nodded a bit.

"Yeah, I do." Paul said and they were quiet for a moment.

"You know, the thought of Adam being a drug addict makes me angry." Paul admitted.

"If he is, we can help him." Francine said.

"I know that, but... well... I keep thinking of this incident that happened roughly a year ago." Paul said and Francine cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What incident?" Francine asked and Paul shook his head in disapproval.

"Do you remember when we had to bail Adam, because he got pulled over by a cop and arrested?" Paul asked.

"Are you kidding? Adam complained about it for a month and I'm not even sure if he paid us back or not." Franny said and Paul nodded.

"Yeah, well he got pulled over for speeding, but he got arrested for having a drug balloon in his car." Paul whispered that last part but Francine was stunned.

"You didn't tell me that." Francine said.

"Adam said it wasn't his; that it belonged to a friend who he drove home. And since I believed him, I didn't think it mattered." Paul said.

"And now your wondering if that balloon was Adam's." Franny said and Paul nodded.

"Yeah, if it was, then how did I not see it sooner. And if it wasn't, then is that how he got started on the stuff." Paul thought out loud.

"Im pretty sure the police would have kept that balloon." Franny said.

"You know what I mean." Paul said and Francine went ahead and smiled at him.

"Hey, if you want, I can come with you tomorrow when you talk to Adam." Francine suggested and Paul looked up at her.

"That would be really helpful." Paul said and Francine nodded.

"Ok, then. Tomorrow we will talk to Adam." Francine and Paul straightened his back.

"Good, but I think we should start having fun now. I mean this is a date after all." Paul said and Francine did a quiet chuckle.

"Alright. Why don't you tell me what the boys thought of your box castle. You worked so hard on it, and you never told me." Francine asked and Paul gave a large smile.

"They loved it so much that it made me wish Tommy had a sibling to play in the castle with." Paul said and Francine giggled.

"We'll see. I bet you played with them." Franny said.

"Yeah, I was a knight and I said 'beware I am the box knight.' Which was fun." Paul said saying the quote as he did before.

"Ok, you just sound like a ghost from a Christmas Carol."Francine asked and Paul rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah? Which one?" Paul asked.

"Which one was the bad actor?" Francine asked and Paul rolled his eyes.

"Well whatever, I wasn't a box ghost, I was a box knight, there is a difference." Paul said and Francine smiled.

"I know babe, I know. I realize that a ghost wouldn't actually sound like that." Franny said and Paul shrugged.

"I don't know, they could probably sound however they wanted." Paul thought.

"Plus, I'm sure that there are cooler things to be in control of. Why be a box ghost?" Francine asked out loud.

"I don't know, comic relief?" Paul suggested and they both laughed.

[Ha, gotta love Paul. Remember to check out my other stories on FanFiction.Net. I even have a few other Danny Phantom stories. I plan to complete a “Last Day” story for all of the ghosts in Danny Phantom.]


	16. 9:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 16,

Paul and Francine walked out of the restaurant, leftovers in hand, and got back in the car.

"I really thought we would spend more time at the restaurant." Paul admitted and Francine giggled.

"I keep telling you that we can't do everything we use to do." Francine said and Paul shrugged.

"Still, though, we hired Kitty until 10-ish. You want to do something else?" Paul asked and they climbed into the car and he turned over the engine.

"Kinda, but I don't really know what." Francine said and Paul went ahead Nd drove out of the parking lot.

"Well, we could look around for stuff to do." Paul said and Francine giggled.

"Oh, yeah, but once we actually find something fun, we won't have time to do it because we spent so much time looking for it." Francine said.

"Yeah, well if that's the case, then we will know what to do next time we have a date." Paul said and Francine smiled.

"Ok, fine you man child. Speaking of children, it's Tommy's bedtime. I think I should call Kitty to see if he is asleep yet." Francine said.

"Ok, I'll just be looking around instead of watching the road." Paul said.

"That's not funny." Francine said as she dialed the number on her Nokia 2140. It only rang twice before Kitty answered the landline.

"Hello, Baxter residence. This is Kitty, can I help you?" Kitty said and Francine smiled.

"Hey, Kitty, this is Francine. I'm just checking in." Francine said.

"Oh! Hi, Mrs. Baxter. I was just reading a story to Tommy, but he hasn't clonked out yet." Kitty said and Francine chuckled.

"Ah, well, sounds like you're doing well." Francine said and Paul got excited when he saw a playground. It reminded him of the good old days where he and Franny would sit in the clearing and talk for hours.

"Yeah. Oh, by the way, while I got you on the phone, Tommy kept asking me to call him 'Dash'. Is this something that you guys knew about?" Kitty asked and Francine rolled her eyes. Paul remember that there was an old blanket in the backseat and he figured that would be kinda fun.

"It was Paul's old nickname, but Tommy is borrowing it." Francine said, not noticing that Paul had changed directions.

"Ah, cute. I better hurry back and finish the story though; if he gets out of bed, who knows how long it would take to get him back in again." Kitty said and Francine nodded.

"Oh, don't I know it. Well, I'll see you in an hour. Bye." Francine said as she hung up the phone.

"Ok, well, it sounds like Tommy is doing alright." Paul said and Francine nodded.

"Yeah, she was putting Tommy to bed when she answered the phone." Francine said and Paul smiled.

"Well, that's good." Paul said and Franny nodded.

"Yeah, at least we can count on Kitty to stay with Tommy." Francine said and Paul chuckled.

"Yeah, you know, you might have a point. Maddie and Jack Fenton may be great neighbors and great parents, but didn't they leave Tommy alone for like 30 minutes last time they watched him?" Paul said and Francine laughed when she remembered that.

"Oh, right. They thought they heard a ghost outside and it turned out to be our neighbor's dog having her litter." Francine said and Paul chuckled.

"Yeah, that's right. We came home and they were gone and we were pissed." Paul said.

"So pissed off until we saw them helping that little albino pup give birth." Francine said.

"Yep, hard to stay mad at them." Paul said and Francine nodded.

"You know, if they weren't our neighbors, I would probably think that they were off their rocker." Paul said and Francine paused.

"Oh, I don't know about that." Francine said and Paul pulled into a parking lot and stopped the car.

"Really? I mean they are great people, but I can't imagine how we would become friends if we didn't get to know them as neighbors first." Paul said.

"Actually I knew Maddie in High School." Francine said and Paul blinked.

"Yeah, though she grew distant when a friend of hers passed away." Francine said and Paul bit his lip.

"I don't suppose you mean Amber Lancer." Paul asked as they both got out of the car.

"How do you know about Amber?" Francine asked.

"Um... well..." Paul hesitated and Francine knew.

"When you talked to Maddie, she brought up Amber, and that's how she got upset." Francine said and he sighed.

"Ok, yeah, it's true. She talked about Amber to convince me to talk to Adam." Paul said and Francine sighed.

"I get it. At least she is talking about her now." Francine said, and all of a sudden she looked around.

"A good friend doesn't forget." Paul said.

"Paul, where are we?" Francine asked.

"Don't you remember it?" Paul asked and Francine paused as she tried to remember.

"It kinda looks familiar." Francine said and Paul chuckled.

"This tree stump use to be a tall 8 foot oak and there was an old fence that use to be at the sidewalk." Paul said and Francine started to smile.

"Well I think I do remember. 'Somewhere', right?" Francine said and Paul smiled.

"Exactly, 'somewhere only we know'. It's changed, but it's still our place." Paul said.

"I think you took that song too seriously." Francine said and Paul shrugged.

"Well, it was like speaking in code but it was a real place." Paul said and Francine chuckled.

"Oh, man did that make my folks angry. Asking where I was going and I told them I was going to 'somewhere'." Francine said and chuckled at it.

"Yeah, and we use to lay on the grass and stargaze." Paul said and he unrolled a blanket Francine didn't even notice he had.

"Do you remember that day we came here and fell asleep?" Franny asked as they laid down on the blanket together.

"You kidding, we woke up at like 4 or 5 in the morning, and I recalled that you freaked out so terribly." Paul said and Francine blinked.

"I did not." Francine said and Paul chuckled.

"I love you baby, but you so did." Paul said and Francine scoffed.

"I can't believe you, I thought that our parents would have skinned us alive." Francine said.

"So you did freak out?" Paul said and Francine whacked his arm.

"Yes, Paul." Francine said and Paul laughed.

"See, I was right." Paul said.

"Lordy, do I need to divorce you." Francine said and Paul rolled his eyes.

"We can discuss that later." Paul said and Francine snuggled up to Paul.

"Promise?" Francine asked sweetly.

"Promise." Paul said and he gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Do you remember the star stories that we use to tell each other...?" Francine asked.

"Of course. When a mommy star and a daddy star love each other very much." Paul said and Francine tried to roll away but Paul held her close. They laughed and played and argued and stargazed just like old times.


	17. 10:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 17,

"Kitty, we're home." Francine called out, trying to be loud enough for Kitty to hear, but also trying to be quiet so she didn't wake Tommy.

"Hey, I was wondering when you guys were coming home." Kitty turned off the television and went over to them.

"Was Tommy good?" Paul asked as Franny was getting some money out of her purse.

"He was a little energetic when I tried to get him to bed, but he slept like a rock. Must have had a busy day." Kitty said and Francine chuckled.

"Well, he and Paul were playing football earlier so that probably did it." Francine said and Kitty chuckled.

"Yeah maybe." Kitty said and Francine handed her a few bills.

"Here you go Kitty. That should cover it." Francine said and Kitty happily took it.

"Thanks." Kitty said and Paul opened the front door for her like a gentleman.

"It's pretty dark out, Kitty. Maybe we should give you a ride home." Paul suggested, but then a engine revved and a motorcycle cane down the street and parked in front of the Baxter house.

"Kitty! I'm here you hear me!" The boy yelled and Kitty ran out and wave.

"One sec, Johnny!" Kitty called out and she turned to Paul and Francine.

"That's my boyfriend. I asked him to drive me home, but I appreciate the thought." Kitty said and she put her earnings in her purse.

"Well, I just phoned your folks, Kitty, they expect you home right away." Francine said and Kitty smiled.

"Thanks, you think of everything. See ya." Kitty said and she ran up to her boyfriend.

"Babe, I got you something." Johnny said.

"Did you? How sweet." Kitty said.

"Yeah, I got you a purple scarf." Johnny said, handing her the accessory.

"It's cute." Kitty said, putting it on.

"Yeah, you complain about how cold your neck gets when you ride with me. I wanted to get you a red one, but I could only find purple. Do you like it?" Johnny asked and Kitty smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I love it, Johnny." Kitty said and she hopped up on the motorcycle and the young couple drove away.

"You think those two will last?" Paul asked and Francine shrugged.

"I don't know; we did." Francine said and Paul closed the front door.

"So do you want to check on Tommy before we head to bed?" Paul asked as he picked up his work bag.

"Do you really need your bag to check on Tommy?" Francine asked and Paul rolled his eyes.

"Technically no, but I did get one good thing out of my meeting today." Paul said as he pulled out the toy bear.

"Cute, you think Tommy would like it?" Francine asked and Paul shrugged.

"A purple stuffed bear is a good toy for a boy his age. Besides the guy who gave it to me has a son Tommy's age. The boy's name is Kwan and it might be nice for Kwan to be Tommy's friend." Paul said and Francine eyed him.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, I mean Tommy has Danny." Francine said.

"True, but what if they grow apart or Danny moves away or something else. As much as I love playing with Tommy and Danny, it is nice to have more then one friend." Paul said and Francine smiled.

"Ok, you big lug. Let's go check on our son." Francine said and she took Paul's hand in hers and they walked to the room.

"As, cute." Francine whispered when she pushed gently on the door.

"Yeah. You know I can put this bear right here by his lamp and then it can be the first thing he sees when he wakes up." Paul said and he crept in and set up the bear.

"I'm surprised you didn't write a not for it." Francine said and Paul blinked.

"Do you have a pen?" He asked her as he pulled some sticky notes out of his pocket, and Francine giggled at her cute husband.

"Here, you goofball." Francine said, getting a pen from her purse.

"Thanks." Paul said and he started writing on the note.

"What are you gonna say?" Francine asked.

"To Tommy, may you be the best Dash you can be, from your loving father." Paul said as he held up the note and Francine rolled her eyes.

"I really hope this Dash thing is a phase." Francine said as Paul put the note on the bear.

"You seemed to like it when I was Dash." Paul said and they walked out of Tommy's room.

"Yeah, when I was a skinny cheerleader and you were the coolest boy in school." Francine stayed and they walked to their room.

"That's not fair, Franny. It's upsetting to hear the hot wife talk about how her husband isn't cool anymore." Paul said and Francine sighed.

"Well, other then that, I think we had a pretty good time." Francine said.

"Perhaps not our best date, but it was good." Paul said and Francine rose an eyebrow.

"And what was our best date?" Francine asked.

"Definitely that anniversary where we were naked the whole day." Paul said and Francine's eyes widened.

"Paul!" Francine said with a smile.

"Heh, what? We watched movies, I cooked for you, but I may never make bacon again." Paul paused when Francine laughed, and covered her eyes.

"Well, guess what, now that we have Tommy, your 24-hour naked days are over." Francine said and Paul snapped his fingers.

"Dang, that's a shame. I sure got lucky that day." Paul said as he closed their bedroom door.

"Well, who said we couldn't still have... fun." Francine said, suggestively and Paul grinned at her.

"That sounds... fun." Paul said and Franny giggled at him.

"Well, perhaps I can change, into something more fun." Francine said, walking into their bathroom. Once she was out of sight, Paul reached down and grabbed a bowl of silver Hershey kisses out from under the bed. Paul then took the time to scatter the kisses on the bed. Paul thought he was brilliant with the kisses, but then he got another idea. Paul and Francine keeps some candles in the closet in Case there was a power outage. They have a couple on top of the fridge as well, they just wanted to make sure Tommy didn't play with the matches. Paul could hear humming, and he knew he didn't have a lot of time. He took a few candles from the box and placed them on the night table and quickly lit them.

"Are you comfortable, Paul?" Francine asked in a singsong tone and Paul smiled. He undid his tie and he removed his jacket.

"How comfortable can I be without you?" Paul said and he looked at the bathroom door and shut off the lights. Paul smiled when Francine stepped out in her black lacy gown.

"Goodness, what's all this?" Francine asked and Paul took off his tie and start to unbutton his shirt.

"It's what you asked for earlier?" Paul said and Francine stared at him, confused.

"40 pieces of silver." Paul said and Francine couldn't help but laugh. Paul loved her laugh though. He walked over to her and she wrapped her arms around him.

"From Kissimmee?" She asked.

"They will be, as soon as you kiss-a-me." Paul said, and Francine laughed and kissed Paul sweetly.


	18. 11:00 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 18,

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

Paul was still recovering, but he still got annoyed at the fact that someone was calling so late.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

Paul shifted stiffly and he grabbed the phone and answered it.

"What's going on?" Paul said.

"Sorry to bother you Mr. Baxter. I just wanted to let you know that Henry returned a bit ago." Sammy, the security guard said and Paul blinked.

"Thanks, Sammy. Isn't this normally the kind of thing you tell Adam, though." Paul said.

"That's the thing; Adam's car is still here, but I can't find him anywhere." Sammy said and Paul went ahead and sat up.

"This late?" Paul asked.

"Yeah, I though it was weird too. I mean normally he had gone home by now, and if he is here, he's at his desk. I don't know, just thought I should give you a call." The guard said and Paul sighed.

"Well, I'm glad you did. Did you try callin Adam's office?" Paul asked and the guard sighed quietly.

"I did, a few times actually. Even called his house, but I didn't get an answer there either." Sammy said.

"What the heck is he doing?" Paul asked out loud and Francine rolled over to look at her husband.

"I can call his office again if you want." Sammy suggested, so he turned to her.

"Is everything ok, honey?" She asked and Paul hesitated as he thought of what to do.

"Tell you what, Sammy. I'll give him a call on his cellphone. And if he doesn't answer, I'll head down there myself." Paul said and he hung up the phone.

"So what was all that about?" Francine asked, sitting as well.

"Apparently Adam is at the factory, but by that I mean, his car is. The guard doesn't know where Adam is and he can't seem to get a hold of him." Paul said and Francine paused.

"Is there any reason he would be there that late?" Francine asked wondering if there was some work related reason for this.

"Not that he expressed with me." Paul said.

"What are you gonna do?" Francine asked and Paul ran his hand through his hair.

"First I'll call him. Maybe he fell asleep there, and if that's the case, the ringing should wake him up." Paul said, dialing Adam's number.

"And if he doesn't answer?" Francine asked.

"Then I suppose I just need to go down there and find him." Paul said.

"Is that a good idea?" Francine asked, looking at the clock and Paul sighed when he got Adam's voicemail.

"It'll be fine, I'm sure." Paul said. He stood up and picked up the suit he discarded earlier.

"You're putting on your suit to see Adam?" Francine asked and Paul smiled.

"It's a rental. Gloria got it for me to wear at the meeting, so it probably needs to be returned to wherever she got it." Paid said.

"And what are you suppose to do? Run around naked?" Franny asked and Paul smiled.

"I bet the night air would feel good." Paul said and Francine chuckled.

"Seriously, though. I have my overalls in my office. I can change into those and find Adam. Then I can come home." Paul said.

"Hey, hon, I hate to even be thinking this, but..." Francine hesitated and Paul looked at her.

"You worried about Adam?" Paul asked and Francine sighed.

"It's just, I am concerned at the possibility that Adam is there for less than Nobel reasons." Franny said and Paul paused.

"Listen, I know you and Maddie are worried that Adam is into drugs, but I doubt that's the case here." Paul said, and Francine knew that she had to word herself carefully.

"On the chance that is the case, would you like for me to go with you?" Francine asked and Paul smiled.

"Honey, he is probably just working too hard or asleep somewhere. Even if he had an addiction, I really don't think Adam would do anything like that at work. There are cameras to catch him, for one. But it's a family company. Our dad handed it down to us, and Adam respects the company too much to use drugs there. We would be shut down for who knows how long if someone finds drugs in our building." Paul said and Francine sighed.

"Well, if you're sure." Francine said, even if she still was worried.

"Hey, I'll tell you what. Once I get to the office and I find Adam, I'll call you with an update. That way, if Adam is in some sort of trouble, I can tell you if we are gonna go to his place or the hospital." Paul said and despite herself, Francine found herself smiling.

"Sometimes I hate it when you are so... optimistic." Franny said, pausing slightly for dramatic effect.

"Do you hate it so much that you would divorce me?" Paul asked and Franny tapped her finger on the edge of her mouth as she thought.

"Nah, your optimism is cute on you babe." Francine said and Paul smiled.

"Lucky for me, because you are always cute." Paul said and Francine giggled.

"I am?" Francine asked.

"Yep, especially in the morning when your hair is a huge mess and you're gown hangs off of your shoulder and you get up to wake up Tommy." Paul said and Francine rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right, Paul. That's when I looked my absolute worst." Francine said.

"Not to me, mama.

You are so calm and collective and so it's natural for me to think you are sexy when you are a bit messy." Paul said and Francine blushed.

"You know what? Let's put the divorce on hold. I think I want to keep you." Francine said and Paul chuckled.

"I'm not worried. I'm sure you can change your mind if you wanted." Paul said

"Exactly. But I am glad that I married you." Franny said.

"Is that so?" Paul said with a smile

"Yep, it's hard to divorce someone you are not married to." Francine said and they both laughed.

"Very true. Very true." Paul said.

"So are you coming home in the suit, your overalls, or your birthday suit?" Francine said and Paul rolled his eyes.

"We talked about that earlier." Paul said and Franny shrugged.

"I know but as a man child, you could change your mind at any moment." Francine said.

"You're right, I'll be naked, so be ready for round two when I get back." Paul said and Franny chuckled.

"Do you ever lose energy?" Francine asked and Paul walked over to the door and looked back at her as seductively as he could.

"Not tonight." Paul said and Francine blushed and giggled at her husband.

"You animal." Francine muttered.

"Nope, 'your animal'." Paul corrected and Francine smiled lovingly at Paul.

"I love you." Francine said.

"And I... love you." Paul said and he gave Francine a dramatic bow, even removing his invisible hat. Then Paul stood up straight, threw his invisible hat in the air and caught it with his head.

Once he made Francine chuckle again, Paul smiled. He left the room, walked down the steps as he always had; walked out the door and started up his car like he done a thousand times before. Odd how Francine learned to memorize these sounds as if it were an opera. It was a simple thing that she hoped to enjoy for a long, long time.


	19. 12:00 am

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Chapter 19,

At the Baxter's Boxes Company, Paul first ran up to his office and changed back into the overalls he was wearing this morning. Heartbreak or not, if Paul ruined that suit, Gloria would kill him with a stapler. Besides, it was more like Paul to show up to the company in overalls then a suit.

The building was a bit cold, so he went went ahead and put on his moving gloves and took a breath in.

First thing he really should do is check in with the night guard, who was outside. But Paul wanted to double check around the office first, just in case Sammy simply missed Adam. Paul checked Adam's office, the bathroom and even the employee break room. Sammy was right, other than Adam's car in the parking lot, there was no sign of him. So with that in mind, Paul walked outside and over to the night guards post.

"Hey there, boss man." Sammy said and Paul waved.

"Hey Sammy. Did you find Adam since our phone call?" Paul asked.

"No, sir. Only people here are you and me." Sammy said and Paul glanced behind Sammy.

"The loading dock lights are still on." Paul commented and Sammy glanced back at it.

"Yeah, I thought that was weird. Henry is really good about turning that light out." Sammy said.

"I suppose there is a first time for everything." Paul said and Sammy nodded.

"I thought maybe they were still there. I thought I heard some conversation or a radio or something." Sammy said and Paul smiled.

"Was there?" Paul asked and Sammy nodded again.

"Yeah, I'm not sure which one. You know me, I don't like to eavesdrop, so I try to avoid it whenever possible." Sammy said.

"It's alright, Sammy. I don't care if they play music or not." Paul said.

"Do you want me to go over there and check in on them?" Sammy asked and Paul shook his head.

"No, I can do that real fast. I still want to find Adam though. I'm not entirely sure where else to look." Paul said, glancing around the area.

"Oh, do you know where he might be? The diner." Sammy said as if he found the answer to all of their problems.

"Where?" Paul asked.

"There is a 24-hour diner, some of the boys go there to get a bite to eat after a delivery. Here they got amazing peach pie, but I haven't tried it. I go there convinced I'm gonna try it, but then I get apple; which is my favorite." Sammy said and Paul smiled.

"I'm sure the boys will forgive you. Apple is really popular." Paul said and Sammy smiled.

"So you want me to go che k out the diner? It's just up the block, so I can walk it." Sammy said and Paul smiled.

"Yeah, sure, maybe. I'll try and call Adam again after I get the light." Paul said and Sammy smiled.

"Sure. While I'm there, want me to get some pie?" Sammy said and Paul smiled.

"Sure, Adam loves cherry, so see if you can get him a slice." Paul said and he gave Sammy a wave when he stared to walk away.

"Sir, what about your pie?" Sammy asked, walking back over to Paul and he sighed.

"Um, I'm not hungry." Paul said, rubbing his eye.

"Ok. Uh, sir?" Sammy asked and Paul turned to him.

"You look mighty cold. Would you like to borrow my beanie?" Sammy asked, taking it off and handing it to Paul. Paul wasn't exactly comfortable with taking and wearing another person's clothes. Paul tried to remember that Sammy was trying to be helpful. After all, Paul was cold since it was a chilly night and he forgot a jacket.

"Thank you, Sammy. That's very kind of you." Paul said and he went ahead and put it on. It did make him feel a bit better.

"No problem, sir." Sammy said and finally the guard walked off in the direction of the diner.

"Now to deal with that light." Paul said with a sigh. It took him about two minutes to get to the loading docks. Paul started to hear the voices Sammy must have heard earlier.

"Enough small talk, Ed, you know I hate doing business here." This voice sounded like Adam.

"You're the one who picked it." This must have been the Ed person.

"I know. I know that I picked it. Did you bring the stuff I wanted?" Adam asked.

"Yep, or not." This Ed character must have said.

"I got the bundle right here." Adam said; Paul noticed the obviously rushed tone Adam was using. He sounded a little nervous, but it still sounded off. This wasn't 'getting in a ready for a date' nervous, or 'job interview' nervous... this was more 'I'm doing something illegal' nervous. Paul bit his lip and hoped he was wrong.

"You know, you're a good egg, kid. You sure you wanna go off the deep end?" Ed said.

"I got it all figured out. I got this new printer here. I can easily store the stuff inside for later use." Adam said.

"And there is another problem. Why should I trust a user with inventory?" Ed said. Paul couldn't believe his ears. Not only was Adam into drugs, but he wanted to deal? That was the most ridiculous thing Paul had ever heard. He had to put a stop to this.

"I'm trustworthy." Adam said, and Paul could see them.

"Whose there!" Paul yelled loudly. His voice boomed and echoed in the loading dock area.

"It's a raid!" Ed panicked and Paul pushed a stack of empty boxes over.

"Police are on there way." Paul said and Ed glanced at Adam.

"You'll never use in this town again." Ed growled and he sped off like a bullet. Once the drug handler was gone, Paul stepped into view and walked over to Adam.

"Paul what are you doing?" Adam asked and Paul got so incredibly angry.

"Me? What about you? You're trying to be a dealer?!" Paul yelled and Adam took a step back.

"Don't you think you're overreacting?" Adam asked and Paul huffed.

"My Jesus in Heaven, please help me keep my temper." Paul said, looking up into the air.

"Ugh, God? You don't know anything do you?" Adam said and Paul straightened his back.

"It's like I'm finally seeing everything clearly, Adam. Everything you've done today. You reordered this machine to use as your drug vault. You are here after our boys get back so Sammy doesn't become suspicious of your activity. You left our important meeting to take a call which I bet was this whole arrangement. And you know what? I even bet you lied to me about when the meeting started to convince people that maybe, just maybe I need to be friend." Paul said and Adam narrowed his eyes at PaulS

"You have no business here." Adam said quite seriously.

"Dad left this company to us." Paul said.

"No. Dad left this company to me, while you played house with mom." Adam said.

"Mom depressed. We needed someone to cook and clean and be there for her." Paul said.

"Wah, wah, wah, cry me a river, Julia Child." Adam said.

"Well, what was I suppose to do? Go to work with you and risk her killing herself? Paul asked.

"Well, maybe it was time for her to die; did you ever think of that?" Adam screamed and Paul nearly went blind with rage.

"You ASS!" Paul screamed and he hurled back and punched Adam in the face. Adam stumbled a little and blood rushes from his nose.

"I think you broke my nose." Adam said. The traumatizing thing, was how calm he managed to say this.

"That's it, little brother. You're dead." Adam said.

Adan charged at Paul, and Paul dropped down into a ball. This sudden change surprised Adam, and he found himself tripping over Paul. Paul rushed over to Adam to check on him. Adam didn't hesitate. He whipped around and his Paul in the back of the leg, causing it to buckle. Paul, now in a kneeling position, saw Adam standing up, so he quickly reached behind him. Adan grabbed the front of Paul's shirt, and Paul grabbed hold of a clipboard and slapped Adam with it. The clipboard broke on impact, giving Paul a moment to regain his strength and stand back up. Adam spit out a tooth and growled. He kicked Paul between the legs and he rose his fist up and hit Paul's jaw. This impact not only threw Paul's head back, but he fell backwards Paul landed on the new printer.

"Ha! You never could beat me." Adam said, but he grew concerned when he didn't hear a response.

"Paul?" Adam went over and he saw blood on the top section of the printer.

"No, no, no, no." Adam reached around and felt the back of Paul's head. It was bloody. Paul must have hit the back of his head on the top section of the printer. Adam's hands started to shake and he rose his other hand to Paul's nose.

"Still breathing. I... oh, man, ambulance. Phone." Adam pulled away from apaul and he patted his pants. But he didn't have his phone on him.

"It's in the car, I'll be right back." Adam told Paul and he rushed out towards his car. Adam was trembling but he needed to help Paul.

"Fuck! Keys!" Adam yelled and he ran back to the loading dock. He had his keys in his jacket pocket. He left his jacket hanging on one of the levers of the printer. Adam quickly pulled his jacket and ran out of the room again. Adam didn't see that when he pulled his jacket, he actually pulled the lever it was resting on. This lever lifted the platform that Paul's body was resting on. But even that wasn't the worst of it.

"Ooohh. What happened?" Paul woke up. He hit his head really hard. He was so groggy that he couldn't remember where he was, or even who he was.

"Ugh! AH!" Paul felt the top of the printer press against his stomach. He didn't really understand what was happening hit he knew it was bad.

"He...lp..." Paul wheezed. With his body getting crushed Paul could barely breathe. The top of his head throbbed with an unknown pressure that kept building and building. Until finally in happened. The pressure released, and Paul was gone.


	20. 1:00 am

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or it's characters.

Note: After the last chapter, I think it was only fair to warn you that this chapter is emotional. I still found it necessary to include it though. And I hope you agree.

Chapter 20,

Francine tries to get back to sleep, but she couldn't. She was still waiting for Paul to call her with an update. She looked over at the clock and sighed at the time.

Paul left two hours ago. Why hasn't he called?

Francine wondered. She tossed and turned and tossed again, but nothing could relax her. She sat up and tried to read a book, but she simply couldn't concentrate on the words.

She kept thinking about Paul looking for Adam. She wondered if Paul found Adam ODing or using or something worse. What was going on? Where was he? So it is understandable that Francine was grateful when she finally heard the phone ring.

"Paul?" Francine asked, hopeful.

"Um, is this Francine Baxter?" A professional voice said. Francine's heart started to race, but she leaned back onto her headboard and took a breath to calm her shaken nerves.

"I have it in my file that you are the emergency contact for one Paul Baxter." The voice said and Francine lowered the phone for a moment to let herself pant. Once she was steady again, she rose the phone.

"That's correct, I'm his wife." Franny said.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to inform you that your husband was found DOA earlier this evening." The voice said and Francine's voice hitched. DOA. Dead On Arrival.

"Are... are you sure?" Francine asked, her eyes watering.

"Yes, Ma'am. He was identified by a Adam Baxter and a Sam Jacobs." The voice said. Francine turned her head and whimpered as a few tears fell on her flushed face.

"W-where is he?" Francine asked.

"Currently he is in the Morgue." Francine was in shock. Her body went numb and her brain still couldn't deal with the fact that Paul was actually gone.

"Can I see him?" Francine's voice broke when she said this.

"Yes. You can come down and see him. We have a few things to discuss with you, anyways. The police have a few questions to, if you're up for it." She heard, but she rubbed her face in confusion.

"I'm sorry, was that a yes? Can I see my husband?" Francine asked again.

"I'm sorry, yes you can." Francine nodded even though the person on the phone couldn't see them.

"I'll, um... be there as soon as I could." Francine said and she hung up the phone. Suddenly it seemed as if her room had too much space, and it suffocated her. Her movements were stiff and minimal, like a Zombie-state of being.

She dragged her body to the closet and flipped on the light. Franny threw on a tank top and sweat pants on over her pjs.

She opened her door and her eyes landed on the brief case she kept by the door. And she remembered how, just that morning, Paul ran down and stole the briefcase. She remembered Paul yelling 'I'm touching it'. She looked over at the couch and remembered her, Paul and Tommy watching movies together. Francine looked at the kitchen and she remembered the time Paul scorched dinner because he got too caught up in his blueprints of the cardboard castle he wanted to make Tommy. She got so mad and there was one thing Paul said that made her forgive him instantly.

"I'm sorry, do you like it?" Francine quoted aloud, and she just couldn't take it. She dropped to all 4's and she started bawling her eyes out. She howled in pain, her eyes stung, her heart ached and her body grew sore from the experience. Francine was crying so loudly that Tommy woke up.

"Mommy?" Tommy question, and quickly noticed a purple bear. It was from his daddy, so Tommy picked it up and gave it a quick hug. Then Tommy carefully got out of bed and saw his mom crying on the floor.

"Mommy?" Tommy asked but Francine didn't hear him. So Tommy walked over and tapped her on her shoulder. This act made Franny jump. She popped up and leaned against the wall.

"Tom-my?" Franny sobbed. She didn't realize how loud she must have been to wake him up.

"Are you ok, mommy?" Tommy asked and Francine breathed through her teeth.

"No. N-no baby, I am not ok?" Francine said.

"Should I get dad to make you feel better?" Tommy asked and Francine shuddered and cried a little more.

"Come give mom a hug." Francine said, opening her arms and Tommy hugged her.

"I love you honey." Francine whispered.

"I love you too, mommy." Tommy said and Francine held her son for a few minutes.

"Where's daddy?" Tommy asked when he noticed that his father wasn't in bed.

"O-oh, baby. Daddy isn't home." Francine said.

"When is he coming home?" Tommy asked and Franny whimpered at this question.

"Hon, dad isn't coming home." Francine said and Tommy pulled away so he could look at her.

"Why not?" Tommy asked and Francine blinked. She realized that she didn't know how Paul died.

"I'm gonna find out, but first I'm gonna take you to the Fenton's. Go get your school bag and some clothes and I'll, uh, walk down there with you." Francine said. Tommy got the impression that he really shouldn't question his mother so he did as he was told. The two walked down the street and rang the Fenton's doorbell. The Fenton's light turned on, and the door was answered by both Jack and Maddie.

"Francine?" Maddie said, surprised, and Jack yawned.

"Franny, do you have any idea what time it is?" Jack asked and Maddie hit him.

"I... need... you to watch Tommy." Francine said.

"Mom? Dad?" Danny said and Maddie quickly smiled.

"Danny, why don't you take Tommy into the next room while the grownups talk." Maddie said.

"Come on, Tommy." Danny said and Tommy looked up at his mommy.

"It's ok." Franny said and Tommy followed Danny.

"So what's going on?" Maddie asked, once she didn't see the boys.

"Hold it, let's easedrop." Danny said and Tommy wasn't sure that was a good idea. However he still wanted to know what was going on. So the boys sat against the wall.

"I got a call from the hospital... It's Paul." Francine started.

"Paul?" Jack asked, growing concerned.

"Is he alright?" Maddie asked and Francine hugged herself tightly.

"Uh, no... he, uh... he's..." Franny swallowed her tears and took a deep breath.

"Paul's dead." Franny said and Maddie gasped.

"What happened?" Jack asked and Danny looked over at Tommy's face.

"I don't know, but I gotta go to the hospital." Franny said.

"I think so should drive you." Maddie said.

"Nah, I-uh, I'm fine." Francine said and Maddie sighed.

"Hon, you aren't wearing a jacket or shoes." Maddie pointed out and Franny looked down.

"I guess I'm not. Maybe you should come with me." Francine consented, and Maddie grabbed Franny a jacket and shoes to wear. Danny knew what dead meant, with his parents being ghost hunters, but he still couldn't believe it. He couldn't even imagine how Tommy felt.

"Tommy?" Danny asked and Tommy stood up.

"Tommy? Tommy are you alright?" Danny asked and he touched Tommy's shoulder.

"Don't touch me." Tommy said and he pushed Danny down.

"That was a stupid idea, Danny." Tommy said, crying.

"I'm really, really sorry, Tommy." Danny said.

"No! Don't you dare call me that, anymore m. From now on you call me Dash." Tommy said and Danny blinked at this new information.

"But that's not your name." Danny said and Dash sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"Then I guess I'm not your friend anymore." Dash said and Dash walked away.

Down at Baxter Boxes, a strange phenomena occurred. A new ghost appeared. He floated there, staring at his environment and tried to remember who he was. His mind was really foggy for some reason.

"Who... am... I?" The Ghost said with great difficulty. He looked around, for anything to help him. He passed a mirror.

"Excuse... me...?" The Ghost asked his reflection. He waited for the glowing blue figure to say something, but it didn't. He waved, and it waved. He tilted his head, and it tilted it's head.

"Me?" The Ghost asked, reaching out and touching the mirror.

"Me." The Ghost didn't understand, but he knew that the person he was staring at was himself. The ghost recalled a picture he saw on the wall, so he went back to it. It was two men in front of building. They were both holding a giant pair of scissors and were about to cut a ribbon that said 'Grand Reopening'. He pointed to the tall one.

"A... dam... ad... hm...?" The Ghost saw that the short one looked like he did, but not blue.

"Me?" The Ghost asked. He picked up the picture and he went back to the mirror.

"Me." The Ghost said, pointing at his reflection.

"Me." The Ghost said, pointing at the picture.

"Me." The Ghost said, pointing at himself. The Ghost didn't understand how he could be in three places. He looked up and saw how he was pointing at himself.

"I-I... I...? I." The Ghost said and he was starting to have an easier time speaking, now that his jaw was a bit looser.

"I, ad." The Ghost pointed at himself in the picture, and the tall man in the photo.

"I... Ad... I Ad... I ad... I... am...? I am..." The Ghost said, testing these words on his tongues. The Ghost put the picture down on the desk and he saw these square objects that had different markings and images. The Ghost paused when he got to a few boxes that said, 'Sweet Spirits' and 'Fat Ghost'. These seemed familiar for some reason.

"Gh... ooost... Ghost. Me, Ghost?" The Ghost wondered as he stared at the pictures before him. He didn't really look like the Ghost on the box, but he did float like one.

"Me, ghost. I am ghost." The Ghost said and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bunch of boxes that have been knocked over. He pointed at the mess, somehow feeling like he was responsible for the mess.

"Box." The Ghost said, and the boxes that were knocked over started to float and glow as he did. The Ghost made the boxes stack back on top of each other and he smiled.

"Ghost Box?" He wondered and he went over to the stack. He picked up the top one and lifted it slightly, then let go. To his disappointment, the box did not float or flow anymore.

"Box not ghost." He said, but then the Ghost realized that he was the one that did that.

"Box Ghost?" The Ghost said, wondering if there was such a thing. Finally the Ghost looked over and saw a castle printed on one of the Boxes. A memory flashed in the Ghost's head, which caused him a great deal of pain. The memory was of him playing a castle saying 'beware I am the Box Knight'. The Ghost went back to the memory. He didn't feel like a knight; but he did feel like a ghost. That memory did hurt, but it did knock something loose.

"I am..? Heh, I am!" The Ghost smiled at how easy that was to say. He decided to go all in, and say it; even if it would be the only time he got to say it.

"Beware! I am the Box Ghost!" The Box Ghost said, laughing and he flew away. He didn't know where he was going or where he had been; but he knew he was a Box Ghost, and for now that was enough.

The End.

[I wrote this story to help aid another. So if you are interested in reading more about Paul, then be sure to check out my story R.I.P.P. on FanFiction.Net.]


End file.
